


Chaotix For Hire

by MakutaMatata



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, F/M, blatant bionicle references, chaotix, sonamy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-31 09:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 71,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20112523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MakutaMatata/pseuds/MakutaMatata
Summary: Team Chaotix is approached by a mysterious figure with a new case, but will they be able to see through the deception and lies to find the truth?





	1. Prologue: The Chaotix Detective Agency

Espio the Chameleon charged through the crowded Central City, expertly and efficiently evading the throngs of people that crowded the futuristic streets at rush hour. People gasped and screamed as he sped by, barely brushing against them as he swiftly navigated the crowd. Espio took minimal notice of the people around him. He was focused on the task at hand, which was of the utmost importance.

After the Chaotix Detective Agency had relocated to the downtown metropolis, Espio and his detective partners, Vector the Crocodile and Charmy Bee, found themselves constantly out and about, victims of the ebb and flow of the city.

The sky was clear and the sun was beating down on Espio. As a ninja, he had trained himself not to break a sweat when it was inconvenient. On a day like this, however, he couldn't help it.

_ This must be what Sonic feels like all the time, _Espio thought as he slid through the legs of an unaware old lady before turning a corner into downtown. His eyes were wide and frantic as he quickened his pace. Tall, futuristic structures towered above him and seemed to touch the sky, while levitating cars drove every which way in between them. Neon lights shone from screens plastered around the city, and brightly colored passageways glowed even in the bright daylight. The smell of fuel and inner city street food permeated the air, and the sheer intensity of the combined sounds of the city was enough to drive even the most well-trained ninja mad. But Espio loved it, and so did everyone who lived there.

Dashing down the street to a small, shorter building wedged between two skyscrapers, Espio entered at a dangerous velocity through the front door, which was hanging ajar. The sign above the door read “Chaotix Detective Agency”.

He bolted up the stairs from the glistening, brand new, yet completely empty lobby and practically kicked down the door to the Chaotix Lounge.

“Time!” the purple chameleon shouted, grinding to a halt in the middle of the already cluttered room.

Vector, who was sitting on the couch at the far end of the tiny room, glanced at his watch. He was completely unfazed by Espio’s abrupt entrance. “Two minutes and thirty eight seconds.”

“It’s a new record!” shouted Charmy excitedly, who was sitting on the ground playing a videogame on a small screen in front of the couch.

“I can do better,” groaned Espio. He shuffled over to his two friends. With a sigh, he shifted the brown paper bag he was carrying to his left hand and plunged his other hand into its depths. “I got you a meatball sub, boss. And for you, Charmy, I got the macaroni and cheese kid’s meal.”

“Did it come with a toy?” asked the small bee, not taking his eyes off the screen.

Espio reached back into the bag and felt around for a few moments before withdrawing a small figurine from within. “Yes, it did.”

Charmy paused his game and took flight towards Espio, taking the toy from his hand and examining it.

“Aww man!” he cried. “It’s an Amy Rose toy! I already have a bunch of this one.”

Charmy tossed it on top of a pile of Amy Rose figurines in the corner and decided to dig into his lunch.

“What’d you get, Espio?” the imposing crocodile asked in his loud and harsh, yet friendly voice.

Espio plunged his hand into the bag once more. 

"Looks like I got Tails," he observed, pulling out a small plastic toy in the shape of their friend Tails. 

"What!" Charmy cried. "I need that one!" 

The bee lunged forward to swipe it out of Espio's hands, but he could not match the speed of a ninja's reflexes. 

"Hands off," Espio indignantly replied. 

Vector scratched his head. "Uh, you got the kid's meal too, Espio?" 

In response, the purple chameleon shook his head. "Apparently, they'll give you a toy with any meal if you ask enough times. It helps if you glare and ask as firmly as you can."

"I've taught you well!" Charmy snickered. 

"Then what did ya actually get?" Vector asked. 

“I got the fish burger,” he replied, pulling the fish burger wrapped in paper out of the bag. He crumpled the bag into a tiny ball and tossed it into the trash.

“Espio!” cried Charmy, buzzing over to the trash and putting the crumpled up bag into the adjacent recycling bin instead. “Paper is recyclable!”

“Right, sorry,” replied Espio. “I still haven’t gotten used to this whole recycling thing. We never recycled at the old office.”

“Talk about embarrassing,” Vector muttered as he took a bite of his sandwich. “Wow, this meatball sub is to die for.”

Espio nodded in agreement. The couch creaked as he took a seat next to Vector. “Big’s Diner is doing really well, I hear. They make some damn good food.”

“Espio!” Vector shouted without raising his voice. “There are kids here!”

Charmy did not seem to notice at all. Espio wondered why everyone was getting on his case about such trivial things today. He shook his head and continued to eat in silence.

Admiring his brand new office, Vector, the eldest and the head of Team Chaotix, glanced around the room. It was a small, L-shaped area that served as their headquarters for mystery solving. Or, it would be if they had actually gotten more than two cases since they moved into the new place. Vector noted the blank, gray walls surroinding him and decided that he needed to spruce the place up once they came into some more money. In front of him was Charmy’s screen, mounted to the wall, with some sort of video gaming system hooked up to it. Vector had no idea what it was called, being so out of touch with what the kids were all doing these days. He then came to the stark realization that he was getting old, being almost 27, and decided to to distract himself continuing to survey the room.

To his right was the stairwell with a wooden door at the top that led into the room. A few potted plants rested on the windowsill immediately next to the door, and sunlight flooded in through the panes of glass. A hard, off-white and slightly damp smelling carpet laid on the floor. Piles of papers, boxes, and other junk that had not yet been organized after moving in littered the sides and corners of the rooms. Beyond the screen and around the corner was another two doors. One to the Chaotix office, usually staffed by Vector, while the other one led to the cramped personal quarters of Vector, Espio, and Charmy, respectively.

He was soon forcibly pulled out of his own thoughts by the sudden realization that he had finished his entire meatball sub without even taking a moment to savor the taste. He sighed.

The stairway door opened once again, this time giving way to none other than Cream the Rabbit and her mother, Vanilla.

“Hey guys!” Cream exclaimed as she skipped through the doorway. Everyone greeted the young rabbit. 

“Hey Vanilla,” said Vector, waving to her. She waved in return, grinning.

“I’ll be downstairs,” she told them. Vanilla worked part time at the Chaotix front desk, and the Chaotix often found themselves babysitting Cream while she worked both for them and at her real job. 

“Yeah Vanilla!” Vector joked. “We don’t pay you for nothing!”

“You don’t pay me,” she replied, her grin fading.

Vector looked away grimly. “Hey, we’ll pay you everything we owe ya as soon as we get the place up and running some more. We’ve only been here for a few days, remember?”

“I understand,” Vanilla said curtly before descending back downstairs.

“Now I feel kinda bad,” Vector muttered to Espio.

Espio leaned in closer to him. “If we actually spent time trying to make a name for ourselves rather than sitting around all day waiting for people to come to us, you would be feeling great for quite some time.”

“Espio,” Vector groaned, “we’re still getting there. We haven’t even unpacked yet. That case yesterday really did a number on us.”

“I had to rescue a kitty from a tree,” Charmy butted in. “It wasn’t that hard.”

“See?” Espio told Vector. “Even Charmy agrees with me.”

“Please don’t fight, everyone,” Cream chimed in.

“She’s right,” Vector agreed. “And you’re right too, Espio. We need to take action. And you can begin by unpacking those boxes over there.”

Espio looked annoyed. “Are you going to help?”

Vector smiled, leaning back in his seat. “I just had a big meal. I’m gonna need some time to digest.”

Outside, a cloaked figure approached the agency cautiously. Tall in stature, yet dark and mysterious, he surveyed the area as to make sure he wasn’t being watched. Sure enough, everyone was staring at him. In fact, based on his egg-shaped stature, his protruding nose, and his long mustache, most had already deduced who he was. They were unsure whether to be afraid or to laugh out loud. But the cloaked figure pretended that none of this was obvious in the slightest, preferring to stick to his mental fantasy while he still could.

People scrambled away from around him as the figure entered the building through the front door. Vanilla the Rabbit, who was sitting at the reception desk adjacent to the door, shot to her feet.

“What are you doing here?” she growled.

The figure was astounded. “That’s just bad business right there. If you want to start raking in the cash like you need to, you should probably not question certain customers just for entering.”

“I know who you are,” replied Vanilla. “You’re Dr. Eggman!”

“W-what are you blabbering about?” he stammered, caught off guard. “It is impossible to discern my identity because I’m wearing this identity concealing cloak!”

Annoyed, Vanilla sighed and put her hands over her face. “Fine, you can go in. It doesn't seem like you're plotting anything right now, Doctor.”

“Don’t call me that if you don’t know my identity!” cried the not-doctor as he ascended the stairs.

“Vector, Eggman is here,” Vanilla’s voice said through the intercom in the Chaotix Lounge. Vector jumped to his feet, spraying the remnants of his food in every direction. He snatched up the microphone nearby.

“You let him in?” cried Vector through the two-way intercom. “Why would you do that?”

Vanilla snickered. “He doesn’t seem dangerous. Let’s just call it retribution for not paying me.”

“Don't you remember what Eggman did to us last year?” Vector cried back. “He still hasn’t paid us for any of the work we’ve done for him, that low-life, miserable-“

“Miserable what?” interrupted the cloaked figure who now stood in the doorway. “Not that it matters to me, since I am definitely not this Eggman person you speak of.”

“Dr. Eggman,” muttered Espio, shoving Cream and Charmy behind him. "State your purpose here."

“HOW CAN EVERYONE TELL?” Eggman cried, peeling back his hood. “IT SAID ‘IDENTITY CONCEALING’ ON THE BOX!”

Espio shook his head. Eggman stood tall, about twice the height of Espio and even taller than Vector. His bald head glistened in the sunlight, and his mustache looked like it had so much gel in it that Espio could stand atop it. But something looked different about Eggman, something that Espio could not put his finger on.

_ Something strange is going on here,_ Espio thought. _ What's he up to? _

After the doctor had been herded into Vector’s office, the green crocodile sat at his desk, with Espio and Charmy behind him on his left and right. They faced Eggman as menacingly as they could muster, as they knew Eggman would pounce on any sign of weakness. The dimly lit room had a small ceiling fan spinning silently above them, rustling some papers, as well as a unique odor that smelled like a mixture of paperwork and swamp. Personally, Espio hated it, but he always thought it provided a good setting for mystery solving. Vector drew the shades, and only a few rays of light penetrated the darkness. 

“So, whadda ya want?” Vector snarled. “If you want to hire us, you’d better pay us in advance this time, cuz we ain’t doing it otherwise.”

“Relax,” Eggman told him, reaching into his pocket and dropping a small satchel onto the table in front of him with a jingle. A single ray of light illuminated his sly grin. “I have here all the money for this case, and all the money I have owed you from previous cases as well.”

“Holy shit,” Vector murmured, reaching over and glancing inside the bag. His eyes widened when they saw the contents. Immediately composing himself, he closed the bag back up and handed it to Charmy, keeping his eyes on Eggman’s grinning face.

“Go count this cash,” he told Charmy, who could barely carry the bag’s weight. “Make sure it equals what he says it does, no more and no less.”

“Got it, boss,” Charmy gasped as he hovered out of the room, lugging the bag behind him.

“Let’s talk business then, shall we?” Eggman told them. “I have a very important case for you, one that will require intense detective work, intelligence gathering, and perhaps… conflict.”

“Get to the point, Doctor,” ordered Espio. 

Eggman paused, and then looked away from the two. Clearly embarrassed by what he was about to say, he spoke hesitantly.

“I need you to break up Sonic and Amy.”

Vector stared at Eggman blankly, and Espio furrowed what would have been his eyebrows, if he had eyebrows.

After a moment of silence, Vector spoke. “You want us to do what?”

“End Sonic’s relationship with Amy,” he replied, this time sounding far more confident than before. “It’s complicated, but it is getting in the way of some business of mine.”

“What kind of business?” Espio inquired, suddenly suspicious of Eggman’s intentions.

“Err,” began Eggman. He paused, unsure what to say.

Vector smiled smugly and leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head. “You’re jealous of Amy, ain't ya?”

“What?” Eggman cried. “No! I’m not jealous. She just stands as an obstacle in my evil plot to destroy Sonic!”

Still grinning, Vector continued. “You’re jealous because Sonic has been spending more time with Amy than he has trying to stop you, aren’t you?”

“It’s not true!” he replied. “Espio, tell him!”

“How would I know?” Espio asked. “I’m a ninja, not a detective like Vector. He probably even knows better than even you do.”

“Not to worry, Doc,” replied Vector. “The Chaotix Detective Agency is on the case.”

Espio tugged at Vector’s arm. “Uh, can I talk to you outside?”

After dragging Vector outside, Espio addressed him harshly but with hushed tones. “Vector, Sonic is our friend. We can’t mess with his life like this!”

“Relax, Espio,” he replied. “We’re gonna have to check it out first, ask around about this. Gather intel and whatnot. Besides, we need the cash.”

“You’re missing the point! We’re supposed to be on Sonic’s side.”

“I didn’t even know he and Amy hooked up. I must be outta the loop.”

“It happened a few months ago. Sonic treated it like it was no big deal, but Amy threw a party.”

“Oh, is that what that party was for?”

“Yes, Vector. Look, the bottom line is that we probably shouldn’t do this.”

“I know it’s morally shaky, but we’ll find a way to make it work out in everyone’s favor.”

“We’re following your lead here, so don’t mess this up.”

“You know me! I never mess up.”

“I think you might have just jinxed us….”

Nearby, Charmy hovered back into the conversation. “Money’s all there, boss.”

“Good,” said Vector, turning back to his purple ninja friend. “Looks like it’s go time. You fill in Charmy here, and I’ll go let Eggman know.”

“I sure hope we’re making the right decision here,” Espio replied, pulling Charmy aside.

“What can I say, Espio. Money talks!” Vector told Espio as he re-entered his office.

After Eggman was forcibly ejected from the Chaotix Detective Agency, the three members held a formal meeting in Vector’s office. Vector sat in his chair across from Espio, who had wheeled in a chair from a different room. Charmy hovered close by, his wings making an annoying buzzing noise.

“Charmy, would you cut that out?” shouted Vector. Charmy sheepishly plopped to the tabletop on his feet.

“So, where do we start?” Espio asked. “I have no idea where Sonic or Amy have been recently.”

“Me neither,” added Charmy.

“So we can’t just go directly to the source,” Vector thought out loud. “We should gather information first. Has anyone seen Tails recently?”

“Tails?” Espio repeated. “I haven’t, but I think I know someone who might have.”

After being summoned into the office, Cream shyly entered. Vector’s office had always been off-limits to her, so finally being allowed to enter was almost overwhelming.

“Y-yes, Mr. Vector?” she stammered, looking around at the three detectives looming over her.

“Cream,” he said, trying to smile nicely but looking more like he was baring his teeth. “You wouldn’t happen to know where your buddy Tails lives, would ya?”

At the mention of Tails’ name, Cream’s face immediately lit up. “Yes, I do! I love to visit Mister Tails!”

“Can you show us the way?” Espio asked her.

Cream nodded. “I have to ask my mom. He’s here in the city, though. We can just walk there!”

“Or fly, in my case!” Charmy added. Vector glared at him.


	2. Cotton Candy-Colored Couple

Tails sat in his workshop not too far away from the Chaotix Detective Agency, humming to himself as he put the finishing touches on his latest invention. His workshop looked more like a garage than a dwelling, with tools hanging all over the walls, parts littering the floors despite the giant toolboxes and drawers nearby, and discarded or incomplete projects lying around on the abundant workbenches around the room. In the center of the room was his most prized possession: the Tornado, his airplane. Standing at about twice his own height, the glistening red bi-plane took up much of the room, and faced a large garage door that opened up to a landing strip outside.

_ This one will finally work_, he thought. _ I can feel it. _

Tightening the final screw, Tails put his screwdriver aside and took up the device in both hands. He reached into his tool belt and placed an apple on the table. Raising the device, he pointed it at the apple before him. His eyes narrowed. 

_ Now for the final touch. _ He reached into his tool belt once again and withdrew a glowing red Chaos Emerald. After basking in its glory for a moment, he jammed it into a compartment in the back of the device, and the device glowed to life. Tails smiled and pulled the trigger. The device began to whir, and then it vibrated for a moment before sparking and blowing a fuse. Tails turned his head away when it exploded, and when he looked back, all that was left was the blackened remains of what he thought would be his greatest invention, and the Chaos Emerald sitting on the workbench nearby. The apple was untouched.

_ I could have sworn that would work, _ he thought. _ Maybe the power of the Chaos Emerald is too much for the machine to handle. _

Disappointed, he pushed the smoking scraps aside and began to draw up a blueprint for an improved version of the same invention, this time more resistant to the Chaos Emerald’s energy. He had barely even begun when he heard a knock at the door.

The yellow fox turned around. He wasn’t expecting any company, so his guard was up. “Who’s there?”

A gruff voice came from the other side of the door. “It’s Knuckles.”

Tails shot to his feet. “What? Knuckles? Where have you been all this time?”

Rushing over to the door, Tails tore the door open and was immediately disappointed. Vector stood in the doorway, chuckling uncontrollably.

“I’d rather flex my muscles,” Vector imitated in the same gruff voice from a moment earlier, still laughing. “I can’t believe you actually fell for that!”

“Frankly,” piped in Espio, poking his head out from behind Vector, “I can’t believe it either. He sounded nothing like Knuckles.”

"Yeah, nothing like him at all!" Charmy chimed in, buzzing over Vector's shoulder so Tails could see him. 

Tails sighed. “Long time no see guys.”

“For most of us, that is,” Vector said, stepping aside to reveal Cream standing behind.

“Hi Mister Tails!” she exclaimed.

Tails smiled. “Hey Cream. I told you not to call me Mister Tails, remember? Just Tails is fine.”

“Whatever you say, Mister Tails,” replied Cream.

“Yeah, Mister Tails!” echoed Charmy.

“How can I help you guys?” Tails asked, slightly exasperated.

“Well, here’s what happ-“ Vector began before being cut off by Espio.

“We need to talk about Sonic and Amy,” he told Tails. “It’s for a case.”

“Oh,” Tails replied. “Why don’t you all come in then?”

Above his garage, Tails had a small living area that he endearingly called The Pad. It was a small, yet cozy apartment that he lived in, although he spent most of his time in his lab. It reminded Vector a bit of the Chaotix’s place, but it seemed less office-like and more home-y. It practically smelled of machines, much to Vector’s distaste. He was not fond of machines. They never seemed to do what he wanted them to do.

“So here’s the scoop, Tails,” Vector told him, plopping down onto a particularly gossamer couch and sinking in like the titanic. “We need to know about Sonic.”

Tails shot Vector a confused look from nearby as he poured drinks for everyone. “Well, what about Sonic? I haven’t really seen him in a while.”

“You haven’t seen him?” Espio piped in, taken aback that Tails had not been hanging out with his best friend. “Why is that?”

“Oh, he’s been busy,” replied the twin-tailed Kitsune, sitting down and handing out sodas to everyone, “what with his new relationship and all.”

“With Amy, right?” Vector questioned. 

Tails nodded. “I honestly didn’t see it coming. It seems out of character for him, and almost for her too. I’m just so used to seeing her constantly chase after him, it’s odd to see her not doing that anymore. And Sonic never seemed too interested either, but maybe he secretly did like her all this time. He tends to keep that kind of thing to himself. Frankly, I’m happy for them, but something smells fishy around here, like there’s more to it. Is that what you guys are investigating?”

“Yep!” lied Vector.

“What?!” Charmy butted in. “I thought we-“

He was cut off by Vector slapping him into a wall, which he slammed into with a thud before sliding down to the floor. Tails didn’t seem fazed for some reason, likely because Vector did this often.

“What can you tell us about their relationship?” Espio asked.

“It’s definitely genuine,” Tails hesitantly spilled, a little suspicious about the seeming interrogation. “Sonic never specifically told me, but I can tell. With stuff like this, he wears his emotions on his sleeve.”

“Sonic doesn’t have sleeves,” Charmy pointed out, having buzzed back up from the floor. “And he can’t wear emotions either, that doesn’t make sense!”

Choosing to ignore Charmy, Espio continued talking. “But you mentioned that something about it seems fishy. What specifically seems fishy about it?”

“Well, it’s partially the fact that neither Sonic nor Amy have been leaving the house much since a few days after they got together,” Tails continued. “He’s been brushing off Eggman’s attacks and advances, usually leaving them to me or Blaze unless they catch his attention enough. But that wouldn’t be that weird if it weren’t for the fact that Knuckles was also living with them.”

“Knuckles is living there too?” asked Vector. His mind started to drift into realms it shouldn’t have, and he shivered when he realized the image that just flashed into his mind.

“What’s he doing there?” Espio inquired. 

“I have no idea,” Tails responded. “That’s why it’s fishy. He normally guards the Master Emerald at the shrine all day, so seeing him away from it is weird. I checked it out, and the Emerald hasn’t been stolen, so it must be super important.”

“We should check it out,” Vector told Espio, who nodded. He turned back to Tails. “Can you give me some more info on Sonic and Amy’s relationship itself? How do they work together, when do they leave the house, what do they like to do together, what makes them both upset, stuff like that?”

“Like I mentioned before, I’m not too involved with their relationship,” Tails replied. “I’ve never really known Sonic to be the jealous type, but Amy most definitely is jealous. Individually, Sonic is usually pretty chill, but a few things make him mad. The usual calm, cool hero stuff. You know, injustice, when his friends are mistreated, people being in real danger, stuff like that. Amy, on the other hand, is a wild card. I’m sure many things are the same, but she will get very angry when she is jealous. In fact, her temper can be pretty bad. Why do you guys want to know?”

“We feel this kinda thing will be important to our investigation,” Vector replied. “What do they like to do together?”

“Well, outside of normal ‘couple things’,” Tails told them, shivering slightly at the thought, “I think they like Twinkle Park. Sonic likes to race Amy, but that usually ends with Amy chasing after him, just like old times. I guess Sonic loves that.”

“Makes sense to me,” Espio said. “Do you think they are a good pairing?”

“Honestly, I haven't really thought about it,” Tails answered. “As I’m sure you know, they’re a pretty good tag-team, but then again, Sonic and I are a better one. As for whether they’re a good couple, I’ve always reserved judgement on that, mostly because I was never an expert on romance, nor was I ever really interested in that kind of thing. But as long as they're both happy, I think they do make a good pairing with a strong bond that goes pretty far back.”

“Pretty far back, eh?” repeated Vector to himself. “Well gang, I think it’s time to go pay Sonic a visit.”

“I can show you where he lives,” Tails declared, revealing a map from a drawer nearby. The group plotted a course to Sonic’s house in the ensuing minutes. All the while, Vector was mentally plotting how to carry out the rest of this case.

“Hey Cream,” Vector said after Tails had showed them all the way. “Are you gonna go home, or do you wanna stay with Tails?”

“I’m not going with you, Mister Vector?” she asked politely.

“It’ll be safer for you if you stay behind,” he told her.

“But, Mister Vector,” replied Cream. “I want to see Miss Amy!”

Vector got on one knee so he was at eye level with Cream. He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder.

He took a deep breath and opened his mouth, but immediately sighed and stood back up. “I got nothin’. Espio, this is all you.”

“Why do I have to do it?” Espio asked.

“I’m your boss,” replied Vector crossing his arms and looking away.

Espio shook his head and turned to Cream. “It’s for your own safety. The best way you can help is by keeping yourself safe, at least until we know what we’re dealing with. Something definitely seems fishy, and if something goes wrong we’ll be counting on you to bail us out.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself!” Vector exclaimed, scooping up Espio in one arm and Cream in the other.

Cream let out a gasp as she was scooped up, while Espio barely flinched.

“Uh, why did you pick us up?” Espio asked him.

“I’m not really sure,” Vector responded, placing them back on the ground. “I guess I was just excited.”

“Hahaha, I feel that!” Charmy exclaimed. “EXCITED EXCITED EXCITED EXCITED EXCITED EXIT-“

“SHUT UP, WOULD YA?” Vector cried, slapping his hand over Charmy’s mouth. He could still feel Charmy’s muffled chanting through his gloved hand.

“We’ll drop you off at the agency with your mom before we head to Sonic’s place,” Espio told her.

“But, I wanna see Miss Amy!” whined Cream.

Charmy broke free of Vector’s grip, a sing-songy smile crossing his face once more. “Yeah, she wants to see Amy! AMY! AMY! AMY! AMY! AMY!”

“BUZZ OFF!” Vector bellowed, swatting Charmy away into a wall again. “You can see Amy soon. We just need ta go scope things out first.”

“So you’ll come back and get me afterwards?” asked Cream.

“You know it!” Vector said, giving her a hearty thumbs up.

“Great,” Tails said, jettisoning himself back into the conversation. “I’ll have to meet up with you guys later. There’s something I desperately need to finish first.”

Espio nodded and Vector flashed his thumbs up Tails’ way. Tails smiled sheepishly and returned the thumbs up. He watched as his four friends left, and he shut the door behind them.

_ Phew _ , he thought. _ I need to get to work, ASAP. _

As the sun began to set outside, he sat down as his computer and opened a program. His fingers hit the keyboard one after another as he tore into a half-written computer program titled “Metal Sonic 2.0”. Only the sound of the clicking of keys with the occasional pause permeated the air for at least an hour until he suddenly stopped. He opened a drawer in his desk and withdrew a small memory stick. After examining it for a moment, Tails jammed it into his computer and transferred the program onto it. He closed his eyes and, taking a deep breath, removed the memory stick. He gazed at the small piece of machinery in his hand for a moment and briefly considered whether or not he was doing the right thing. Deeming it a notion to be handled some other time, he tucked the memory stick back in the drawer, which he had left ajar, and retired back into the darkness.

****

Not very far away, Vector, Espio, and Charmy sat crouched in a shrub atop a small hill, gazing at a small house just outside the city. Espio was peering through a pair of binoculars, and he appeared to be concentrating very hard on something.

“Do you see anythin', Espio?” asked Vector. Espio shook his head.

Charmy leaned in closer to Espio. “Do you see anything now?”

Espio lowered the binoculars and shot an exasperated look at his teammates. “I’m never going to see anything if you two keep distracting me.”

“Yeah Charmy,” Vector retorted. “Stop distractin' him!”

“What did I do?” Charmy demanded. Nobody replied.

Espio continued staring in silence, but Vector’s constant fidgeting made it clear that he was impatient.

“I’m starvin',” he commented. “You’d better hurry up, Espio. It’s gettin' dark out.”

“Back off,” he replied calmly yet firmly. “I can’t just make something happen. We have to wait.”

Vector narrowed his eyes and scanned the landscape before him. The lowering sun behind them cast a dark shadow across the flat land in front of them, and the lone household was only illuminated on one side, creating an ambient aura. The long grass, flowers and shrubs around them swayed in the cool breeze, and the shadows of the trees in the rear of the house loomed against the green grass. The red sunset cast an orange glow across the dirt pathway leading to the front of the seemingly empty house. The city stood in the background, making the house seem that much smaller next to the huge buildings and bright, neon lights. The sounds of the city, however, could barely be heard this far away. With the exception of the sounds of nature and the small blue and pink figures strutting along the path to the house, the land was completely silent and deserted.

_ Wait, what? _

Vector reached over and snatched the binoculars out of Espio’s hands. He zoomed in on the colorful figures, and upon closer inspection, realized that they were exactly who he was hoping to see.

“It’s Sonic and Amy,” he muttered aloud. Charmy gasped.

“We should go say hi to them!” he cried.

“Ssh, keep it down,” Vector told him dismissively, waving his hand at him as he kept his eyes firmly locked on the two hedgehogs. “Let’s see what they do.”

“It doesn’t take a detective to know they’re going back to their house,” Espio informed him. 

Vector smiled a sly smile. “That’s not what I’m concerned about. It’s what comes after.”

He lowered the scope and turned to Espio. “Can you get closer? I want to hear what they’re saying.”

“Aren’t we just trying to break them up?” Espio asked. Vector shook his head, smiling once more.

“There’s more happening here than meets the eye, methinks,” he uttered, practically giggling. “Tails was acting weird earlier, don’t you think?”

“You think he was withholding information?” Espio asked.

“Why would he do that?” asked Charmy. “He’s on our side!”

“Not withholding information,” replied Vector. “He only told us what we needed to know. But there’s something he was hiding. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s worth checking out for now.”

“I do agree that something seems fishy here,” Espio agreed. “After all, why would Eggman hire us for something as trivial as this?”

“Bingo,” Vector confirmed. “Nothing seems right. That’s why I need you to go down there and listen to what they’re saying.”

“Roger,” Espio affirmed, nodding once. Before the eyes of his teammates, Espio disappeared where he was standing. Everyone knew that he could turn invisible at will, and thus nobody questioned it. There was a gust of wind that indicated Espio taking off at top speed down the hillside, like a shimmering blur that left trails of wind and flattened grass behind him.

As he approached the couple walking down the path, Espio slowed down to a crawl so he would not be detected. When he tiptoed close enough, he was able to hear snippets of their conversation.

“Come on, Sonic!” Amy cried.

The blue hedgehog looked around nervously. “We’re in public, Amy…”

“Pleeeeeeeease?” Amy asked, reaching out her hand to him. “There’s nobody even around.”

Espio felt a little bad.

“What about Knuckles?” Sonic asked.

Amy shrugged. “He’s probably downstairs. You know how he is about guarding things.”

_ Guarding things? _ Espio thought.

Sonic sighed and hesitantly reached out his hand, taking her hand in his own. Amy smiled warmly and Sonic looked away, embarrassed.

“Geez, Sonic,” the pink-haired hedgehog sighed, trying to meet his eyes with hers. “Can’t you at least pretend you love me? I am your girlfriend after all…”

“I'm still getting used to hearing that,” Sonic muttered. Amy chose to ignore it, but Espio felt he could somehow sympathize.

“But Sonic,” she moaned. “You DO love me, right?”

“C-can we talk about this later, Ames?” Sonic stammered, finally making eye contact with her. Amy didn't look too happy, but she conceded with a gentle smile and a nod. Sonic smiled back and abruptly stopped in his tracks, almost making Espio walk into him. Sonic’s quills were way too close to his face for comfort. 

_ That was close, _ he thought, wiping the sweat off of where his brow would have been if he had eyebrows.

Sonic knocked three times on the door, and after a minute or so of awkward silence and confused looks exchanged between Sonic and Amy, a small slit at about eye-level opened up and revealed a pair of bright purple eyes that Espio knew belonged to Knuckles. After a moment of Knuckles staring into Sonic’s emerald eyes, he shifted his gaze to Amy’s bright green eyes. With a click, the slit closed. A moment later, the door swung open, revealing Knuckles behind it.

The red echidna waved them in with his oversized hand and stepped aside as Sonic and Amy made their way inside. They were followed briskly by Espio, who was still invisible. As soon as he dove inside, the door swung shut, barely brushing up against his foot as he flattened himself against an adjacent wall.

With slow, controlled breathing, Espio surveyed his surroundings. They were in a somewhat narrow hallway with a dim light illuminating the otherwise dark hallway. The walls were brown in color and completely bare, which Espio knew to be very odd for a house that Amy lived in. Beyond the short hallway, Espio could not see. A sharp corner led off into a room he could not make out. 

“Have you been hanging out in the dark this whole time?” Sonic asked Knuckles. He shrugged and walked into the room around the corner. Sonic smirked and followed him, Amy tagging along behind. Realizing that he may have gotten in too deep, Espio cautiously followed, making note of all the possible exits.

The room around the corner was surprisingly spacious. Moonlight and the nighttime breeze flowed in through the open window, while the walls were the same brown as the hallway behind him. It appeared to be a kitchen. Various kitchen appliances were scattered in strategic locations around the room, and in the middle of the room was a small table with a checkered tablecloth draped over it. Espio’s mouth watered when he saw the bountiful feast of roasted fish atop it.

“You cooked, Knuckles?” asked Amy, dumbfounded.

“Well, yeah,” replied Knuckles, scratching his head sheepishly. “I figured it would be a nice change of pace.”

“Since when did you know how to cook food?” Sonic teased. “I thought you only knew how to cook up trouble.”

“You’d better watch your mouth, Sonic!” cried Knuckles, rearing back and raising his fist.

Sonic chuckled. “Simmer down, Knucklehead. Are we gonna eat or what? I’m starving.”

_ If they don’t go back outside soon, I’m gonna be trapped in here for a while, _ Espio thought as his invisible eyes darted around the room for an escape. He saw none, other than the cracked open windows that he knew he would not be able to squeeze through. _ As I search for an exit, I should see what’s up with these three. Something seems fishy, and it’s not Knuckles’ food…. _

“Well, Knux,” Sonic reported. “The jury is in. Your food is good… but not as good as Amy’s.”

Knuckles looked dismayed, while Amy had a look of delight on her face.

“Thank you, my love,” Amy cooed to Sonic. Espio could see her pupils literally becoming hearts.

Sonic looked away sheepishly, and Amy looked almost offended. “We are at home! Do you really need to be this shy?”

Knuckles chuckled, and suddenly Amy understood.

“Go away, Knuckles!” she demanded. “You’re making Sonic all shy and flustered.”

Knuckles chuckled some more. “Trust me, it’s not just me. And besides, I was the one who made all this food for you, so I’m not going anywhere.”

After eating in silence for a few minutes, Sonic stood up and began pacing the room at what would be a sprint for any normal person. It made Knuckles dizzy, but Amy was used to it. Espio had to squeeze into a corner to ensure that Sonic didn’t run into him.

“Did anything happen today?” Sonic asked, not breaking step.

Knuckles shook his head. “Nothing. He didn’t even look at me when I went down there.”

Espio noticed that Knuckles gestured at a door in the back of the room when he said “down there”, so he assumed it was the door to the basement.

“I have a bad feeling about that,” Amy interjected. “It seems like he’s planning something. An escape, maybe?”

Sonic shook his head. “I doubt he would do that, not with the three of us constantly keeping an eye on him.”

“I’ll punch his ass if he ever tries to break out,” Knuckles cried, clenching his fists. “Mark my words.”

“Simmer down, Knucklehead,” Amy parroted. Sonic grinned at her and slowed his pace. Espio became backed into a corner as Sonic began to inadvertently approach him.

“We should keep a closer eye on him, though,” Sonic said, his quills inches away from Espio’s face. “You know what to do, Knux.”

Knuckles nodded once.

_ I need to get out of here,_ thought Espio. _ But how? _

There was no way he could slip past Sonic without touching him. That would be an instant giveaway. He looked down at Sonic’s legs and realized that if he timed it perfectly, he could pass right through his legs as he slowly paced the area in front of him. The room was practically silent, so he had to be stealthy. Readying himself, he watched Sonic’s legs, and at the exact moment he had calculated, he pushed himself off the wall and slid flawlessly though Sonic’s legs without even touching him. He glided across the surprisingly slippery floor and clambered to his feet, almost amazed that he managed to pull it off. It was the result of years of rigorous training. Unfortunately for him, all those years must not have been enough, because as he was getting up, his elbow hit a glass on the table, sending it to the ground with a crash and a shatter.

_ Shit, _Espio thought, looking around frantically for an escape route. Knuckles stood up, and Amy drew her hammer from what seemed like nowhere. But before any of them could converge on him, a loud knock on the door permeated the tense air.

Knuckles’ gaze immediately shot to the door and Amy went silent. Sonic stopped pacing and looked up as well, and Espio finally noticed that the blue blur hadn’t even heard his mishap.

_ Whoever it is at the door_, Espio thought, _ they sure bailed me out of a tight spot there. Now’s my chance to slip out. _

Jumping to his feet and crouching, Espio made his way to the door. Still invisible, he reached the door before Knuckles and pressed himself up against the wall as close to the entrance as he could, silent as a mouse. Once again, Knuckles opened the slit at eye level and peered out into the darkness. Upon seeing who it was at the door, his suspicious and dark expression immediately shifted to one of relief. The moment Knuckles had pried the door open enough, Espio dove forward and somersaulted outside, landing on his feet nearby and sliding to a stop like an absolute boss.

“Knuckles!” a familiar voice cried out from nearby. Espio straightened up and saw that Vector was standing at the door with his arms wrapped around Knuckles in what looked like an uncomfortably tight embrace. Knuckles hung limp like a ragdoll as Vector lifted him up into the air and swung him around like a cat of the large nature swings around a frog whilst hugging him lovingly.

After what seemed like an eternity to every party involved except Vector, he finally released Knuckles, who had a scowl etched onto his face.

“Hey guys,” Sonic cheerfully piped in, shoving the annoyed Knuckles aside. 

“SONIC!!" Charmy cried, lurching forward towards Sonic’s head. He didn’t react as the small bee hugged his entire face.

“Charmy,” Sonic said flatly, not even struggling. “Please get off my face.”

“But Sonic,” the hyper bee whined. “I looooooove you!”

There was a loud crash behind Sonic and a flash of hot pink. “GET OFF MY MAN.”

Charmy was flung off of Sonic’s face at a high velocity. He grunted as he crashed into what seemed to be thin air behind Vector, but Espio instantly became visible when he was struck by the giant bee.

“Amy!” Sonic cried out, embarrassed. Amy wrapped her pink arms around his shoulders from behind and held him tight.

“God damn bees,” Amy mumbled. Luckily, Charmy didn’t hear her. 

During all the commotion, nobody noticed that Espio had become visible when he was struck, or that he was there at all. 

Knuckles was the only exception.

Having been released by Vector when Charmy face-hugged Sonic, his keen eyes followed Charmy’s trajectory when Amy slapped him away and noticed Espio suddenly appear in their midst.

_ What? _Knuckles thought. _ Since when was Espio here? Unless… _

Using his brain for once, Knuckles put two and two together. A glass moved on it’s own and shattered, and then moments later, two members of Team Chaotix appeared at their door. When the third one, with the ability to turn invisible, showed up, it could only imply one thing. 

_ Was he in the house just now? _

Knuckles narrowed his eyes as Espio stumbled to his feet, disoriented. He shook his head and noticed Knuckles’ gaze had fallen on him.

_ Uh oh_, Espio thought. 

“Watch where you’re throwing that thing, Amy,” Espio piped in, trying to diffuse the situation. 

Amy seemed taken aback when she saw him. “Espio? When did you get here?”

“I’ve been here this entire time,” he said. “You didn’t notice me?”

Amy furrowed her eyebrows and shrugged. “Why don’t you three come in? Knuckles will make some tea.”

“Why do I have to do it?” Knuckles whined. 

Amy didn’t answer and retreated back into the house, followed by Sonic, Vector, and Charmy. Espio moved forward to follow suit, but Knuckles pulled him aside and hoisted Espio’s ear up to his mouth. 

“I’m not sure what you’re up to,” he whispered into Espio’s ear, “but I will find out. You guys should think twice before making an enemy of me.”

With that, Knuckles released Espio and turned into the house without so much as a backwards glance. Espio stood in that spot for a moment, slightly dumbstruck. 

_ He noticed I was there_, Espio thought. _ Maybe that didn’t go as well as I thought. I’ll have to keep an eye on Knuckles. _

Vector sat down heavily on the old, maroon couch in the living room, which groaned under his weight. 

“So, what brings you guys here?” Charmy asked mischievously, hovering near Vector’s head. 

Sonic sat down across from Vector on a small chair. “We live here, Charmy.”

“Oh, right!” Charmy replied. 

As Knuckles began to make tea nearby, Espio finally entered. 

“Took your own sweet time, huh Espio?” Vector cried out. 

Espio seemed taken aback. Vector pointing out his lateness didn’t help cast suspicion away from him. “I uh… dropped my contact.”

“Since when did you wear contacts?” Sonic asked. 

“I’ve always worn contacts.” The lie flowed easily out of Espio’s mouth now that he had a solid story. 

“Here’s your tea,” Knuckles grunted. He begrudgingly served everyone their tea before realizing he was left with no place to sit. His expression looked sour as though he was about to punch a hole in the wall. 

Sonic chuckled. “So what _ does _ bring you guys here, anyway?”

“It’s been awhile!” Vector yammered excitedly. “We were in the area and we thought we’d come say hi.”

Suddenly, there was a loud thud. Vector jumped so high that his head nearly hit the low ceiling. He grumbled something about the house not being built for a crocodile of his size. 

“What was that?” Espio asked, all of his senses on alert. 

Sonic and Amy exchanged a worried glance. 

“Oh it’s um…” Knuckles began.

“It’s the pipes!” Amy hastily finished. “The plumbing has been acting up lately.” 

“You’re a bad liar,” Vector remarked, leaning in with a intimidating grin. Amy seemed taken aback. Vector was a detective. Lie detection was a basic skill of his. Plus, Amy was the type of person to wear her true intentions on her sleeve, or she would be if she didn’t wear a sleeveless dress all the time. Vector realized he sounded a lot like Charmy in his head sometimes. 

“You shouldn’t throw out baseless accusations like that,” Knuckles chimed in. 

“It’s not baseless,” Vector asserted. “I’m a detective, remember?”

"Lay off her, Vex," Sonic piped in. “Hey Knuckles, why don’t you go check that sound out?” 

He waved his hand as if to shoo the red echidna away. 

“Why do I have to go check it out?” he groaned, sidling off into the next room. 

Espio jumped up. “I’ll go with you, Knuckles.”

“Oh, um…” Knuckles began. He looked at Sonic, who shrugged. “Yeah, I guess it’s okay.”

Knuckles sighed and gestured for Espio to follow him into the basement. As Espio and Knuckles disappeared through the doorway, Vector turned back to Amy and Sonic.

“So,” he began. 

“Let me guess,” Sonic interrupted. “You’re gonna ask about Amy and I, aren’t you?”

“Bingo!” Charmy shouted. “Sonic LOOOOOOOOVES Amy!”

“SHADDAP CHARMY,” Vector shouted back. “LET US GROWN UPS TALK ABOUT ADULT STUFF.”

Charmy sulked. “Sorry boss.”

Vector watched him buzz off into the neighboring room that Knuckles and Espio and just disappeared into.

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit too harsh on him?” Amy asked abrasively. 

Vector stretched, crossed his legs, and spread himself out on the couch even more, nearly taking up the entire sofa. 

“He’s developin’ a thick skin,” Vector replied after a few seconds. “He’ll make a fine Chaotix one day.”

“He isn’t already one?” Sonic inquired. 

Vector nodded. “Spiritually, yes. Legally... sorta. You could say he’s more of an intern, as well as a mascot at times. He’s also a lot like a kid brother for me an’ Espio.”

He looked away bashfully. Amy giggled. 

“So like I was sayin’ earlier,” Vector continued. “Yeah, you’re right. I was gonna ask about you two. I didn’t see this comin’ at all! What happened?”

Amy wrapped her arms around Sonic as a huge grin spread across her face. Sonic looked embarrassed and blushed beat red, but he still gave her a feeble hug in return. 

“We figured it was about time,” Amy said vaguely. Vector could hear her wide smile echoed in her voice as she spoke. Sonic halfheartedly sighed.

Vector tilted his head. “About time? About time for what?”

“About time Sonic became my boyfriend!” Amy told him, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “It was only a matter of time, from the moment we first met. Isn’t that right, Sonic?”

Sonic remained silent. 

Amy giggled. “He’s so cute when he gets all shy.”

“Shy, huh?” Vector remarked to himself. “Sure seems more like he’s copying Shadow or somethin’.”

“What was that, Vector?” Amy snapped. 

“N-nothin’,” Vector quickly replied. 

****

“Hey Espio,” Knuckles chimed in as he and Espio descended down a dark stairwell to the basement. “Why’d you wanna come with me so badly?”

Espio shrugged, despite the fact that Knuckles was behind him and could not see him anyway.

“I wanted to make sure that you didn’t get hurt, Knuckles,” he teased. “We don’t know what’s down here.”

“I can take care of myself against a bunch of pipes, thanks,” the red echidna replied, sounding somewhat hostile. 

“You can never be too careful,” Espio remarked, following Knuckles into the darkened basement. 

He could hardly make out anything further than three feet away from him. In an instant, he felt himself slammed against the wall. His eyes instinctively closed on impact, and when he opened them, a frowning red face loomed out of the darkness inches away from his own. 

“What’s the big idea, Espio?” Knuckles demanded. 

“I should be asking you that,” the chameleon replied calmly. 

Knuckles reluctantly released the lavender lizard and stepped back. 

“You wanted to come down here so badly,” Knuckles told him. “You know I can protect myself, so you must have some other reason.”

“I only wanted to help out a friend,” replied Espio. 

Knuckles prodded Espio’s chest with his large, gloved mono-finger and snarled at him. “I know you were spying on us earlier. Sonic and Amy may not have noticed that you broke that glass, but I did.”

Espio knew he had to concede. His cover had been blown. “We’re investigating a pretty crazy case, Knuckles. It’s not about you.”

“Who’s it about then?” Knuckles pressed. 

Espio hesitated for a second, and then responded. “It’s about Sonic and Amy. Amy has a secret that she doesn’t want Sonic to know about, so uh, we were hired to investigate Sonic and see if he has any idea.”

“Amy can’t do that on her own?” Knuckles asked. 

Espio shook his head gravely. 

"What’s her secret?” Knuckles inquired. 

Espio glanced around, amazed that Knuckles was buying his story. “I’m not sure I should tell you, Knuckles. It’s a pretty heavy secret.”

Jabbing his finger even harder into Espio’s chest, Knuckles did not relent. “I can keep the secret. Prove to me that you’re not lying.”

“Um, okay…” Espio said. He leaned over until his head was adjacent to Knuckles’ and whispered. Knuckles’ eyes widened. 

“She’s what?” Knuckles yelped. Espio held his hands in front of him and hushed the yelling echidna. 

“It’s her big secret,” Espio reminded him. “Nobody else can know.”

Knuckles nodded, more than happy to take on the burden of this responsibility. 

“Does Sonic have any idea?” asked Knuckles. 

Espio shook his head. “It can’t be long though, Sonic is going to figure it out one way or another now that they’re…”

Espio paused for effect. 

“...together?” Knuckles tentatively finished. Espio nodded slowly and dramatically. 

Knuckles shrugged seeming to have forgotten about the entire abrasive ordeal that had happened moments before. 

“Wait,” Knuckles muttered, suddenly looking confused. “So you’re telling me they haven’t…”

Espio shook his head and shrugged. Knuckles also shrugged. 

“Look, don't tell Amy that you heard this from us,” Espio ordered. “We weren't supposed to tell you, but I figured you're important enough.”

Knuckles grinned. “Don’t worry, her secret is safe with me!”

At seemingly the same time, they both realized that an eerie humming noise was filling the entire room. It seemed very faint at first, but as the silence between them grew, the noise grew clearer. Espio glanced around the pitch dark room, his ninja senses on alert. Knuckles lowered his hand and spun around, looking off in what Espio noticed to be the complete opposite direction than the one he heard the sound coming from. It was then that he realized how large this basement really was; far larger than the house itself, it seemed more like an underground cavern than a basement. Espio found himself wondering why such a room existed in such a small house, but when he wheeled around to face Knuckles, he did not find his crimson friend. Instead, he found himself screaming at the top of his lungs. 

****

Upstairs, Vector’s words were cut off by the rare sound of Espio screaming in fear below them. The Chaotix head honcho instinctively shot to his feet, as did the two Hedgehogs in the room with him. 

“Espio!” he cried, charging downstairs. 

Sonic and Amy exchanged an alarmed glance, worried about what they knew might have caused this. At the speed of sound, the two of them raced after their crocodile companion into the darkness below. 

****

As soon as Vector reached the cold, concrete ground downstairs, he froze and peered through the darkness. Moments later, Sonic and Amy slammed into his back, sending him to the floor face first. 

“Sorry Vex,” Sonic apologized sheepishly, almost laughing. Vector mumbled something about going too fast in an enclosed space as Sonic helped him to his feet. The crocodile dusted himself off and had another look around the dark space. 

“There a light in here or somethin’, guys?” Vector asked. Sonic pulled a small chain near his own head, and suddenly the entire room was illuminated by a dim, yellow light. The glow revealed Espio nearby, passed out on the floor with no sign of his red companion anywhere. 

Just as the trio was about to rush to Espio’s side, a small clinking noise resounded from behind him, along with a growing humming sound. Cautiously, Vector turned around, only to be greeted by his tiny insect friend. 

“Boo!” Charmy cried. He was wearing a creepy wooden mask with no facial features at all except two empty, sinister eye sockets near the middle and feathers around the top. It looked downright macabre. 

“Gotcha!” cried a voice from behind the ominous bumblebee. Knuckles’ gloved hand shot out and wrapped itself around Charmy, the other hand tearing the mask off his face. 

“Did Charmy scare him?” Vector sighed. Knuckles confirmed that he had, releasing Charmy back into the air. The bee giggled. 

“WHAT’S WRONG WITH YA, CHARMY,” Vector growled, thoroughly flipping out. “YOU PROBABLY GAVE THE GUY A FREAKIN' HEART ATTACK. HAD ME FEARIN’ THE WORST TOO.”

Charmy only continued to chortle. Sonic chuckled too. Nearby, Knuckles frowned as he flexed his muscles instead. Amy shook her head. 

****

After Espio had been woken up, the six of them rendezvoused in the center of the unconventionally large basement. 

“So uh, what was that noise?” Vector asked Espio and Knuckles. Espio shook his head.

“We never did find that out,” he replied, glaring at Charmy. 

“It must have been those boxes over there!” Amy said hastily, scrambling over to some toppled cardboard boxes in the corner. 

“Uh, I’m pretty sure I knocked those over when I was chasing Charmy,” Knuckles told her quietly. Amy kicked him in the same shin that Espio did. 

“Yeah!” Knuckles exclaimed oddly loudly. “It was just those boxes! There’s no robots down here or anything!” 

Amy kicked him again. 

“Oh, and it wasn’t the pipes either, huh?” 

Sonic rolled his eyes. 

Those words caught Vector’s attention, who in turn caught Espio’s eye. The chameleon nodded, knowing what he had to do. 

“Well, if it was just the boxes, then we should get going,” Vector proclaimed, heading upstairs and dragging Charmy along behind him.

Sonic followed him with a cheerful grin. “I’ll escort you guys to the door!”

As soon as Sonic was out of earshot, Knuckles turned to Amy.

“I know about your, uh, little thing,” he told her quietly. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. I won’t tell Sonic.”

Amy looked taken aback. Espio knew his story was about to fall apart, so he began to make for the exit when she replied. 

“How did you know about that?” she asked Knuckles, her voice barely a whisper. Espio was dumbfounded. 

“Oh you know,” Knuckles said, winking at Espio. “The signs were everywhere.”

Espio had no idea how to respond. 

“Please don’t tell Sonic!” she pleaded. “I don’t think he knows yet, and I want to tell him when the time is right!”

“Don’t worry,” Espio piped in. “He has no idea.”

Amy looked confused. “Huh? You know about this too?”

The ninja detective shrugged. “Just call it detective’s intuition.”

From the top of the stairs, Sonic’s douchey voice called out for Amy and Knuckles, who immediately ran upstairs. Espio began to follow them, but stopped. He noticed something he had not noticed before. 

There was a door in the shadowy corner, concealed by the clutter all around the room. 

Espio stole a glance to the top of the stairs and saw that there was nobody there. Quickly making up his mind, he ducked into the darkness and turned invisible once more. Free to move about the room, he dashed to the corner, hoping that the door was not locked. Much to his surprise, it wasn't.

He placed his hand on the doorknob, and as quietly as he could opened the door. It let out a loud creaking noise as he pulled it ajar. He froze, hoping that nobody had heard his blatant blunder. To his relief, it seemed like nobody had. He immediately relaxed after having tensed up moments before. Continuing on in his endeavor, the violet ninja who at this exact point in time was a transparent ninja continued to gently haul the door agape as it creaked like a loose floorboard in the middle of a silent night. Espio winced as he finally managed to open the door wide enough for him to slip inside. Glancing around in the pitch dark room, his eyes were immediately met with nothing but blackness. After a few moments, something flared to life not too far from him. Two piercing, ovular crimson lights became ominously illuminated. Startled, Espio jumped to his defenses as his eyes sought out the source of the glow emanating from somewhere nearby.

_ Is it just me, _ Espio thought, _ or do they look a little bit like… _

Slowly, the two adjacent red lights began to move, their luminescence shining directly on Espio. It was almost as if something knew he was there, despite his invisibility. 

Espio felt a chill run down his spine. Something was over there, in the darkness that he could not see. Something dark. Something sinister. 

The chameleon had the sudden urge to flee. The presence he sensed was familiar, and he had a feeling he knew what, or who, it was. Even with his disciplined ninja prowess, Espio was unable to act. He was frozen in place, in shock at the sudden re-emergence of an old nemesis of his. 

As the cold, robotic eyes turned to Espio, he knew exactly who it was that he had encountered. 

“Metal Sonic,” he breathed. He began to back away. 

_ Why is Metal Sonic here? This is Sonic’s basement. Does he know? Do any of them know? _

Before Espio could act any further, a robotic voice rang out through the darkness. Despite its flatness, there was clearly emotion behind the words he heard, and that emotion was malice.

“Let me out.”

****

Upstairs, Vector mouth flapped like a flag in the wind. He stood in front of the door and occupied all the space that the recess had to offer, much to the annoyance of Amy, who was trying to usher them out. 

“So then this guy comes up to me and goes, ‘Hey you! I know you’re friends with Big the Cat! Ya gotta get me some free food from Big’s Diner! That place is the bomb!’ So I told the guy ‘if ya want some food from there, ya gotta hire me to solve a case for ya first!’ The guy actually did it! He ended up paying us more than double what he would have for an entire week’s worth of food at Big’s! We made bank and all that guy wanted was a meatball sub!”

Vector guffawed obnoxiously and Charmy chortled as well, despite having heard the same story dozens of times. 

“Anyway, so get this. The next day, the same guy comes back to me and starts goin’ on about Big the Cat! Guy’s a celebrity ‘round these parts, I’m telling ya. Fella even asked for Big’s autograph, but the poor guy didn’t even know what an autograph was! But the fella didn’t care, he was too busy chowin’ down on his meatball sub! In fact, he-”

“Oh my god!” Amy interrupted. “Vector, can you shut up for even a second? As much as I love Big, I can’t even hear myself think with you running your mouth like this." 

The crocodile looked away sheepishly. “Sorry Amy.”

Charmy did the same. “Sorry Amy.”

“YA DIDN’T DO ANYTHING,” Vector roared, turning around to Charmy. “WHADDA YOU APOLOGIZING FOR?”

Charmy giggled and started dancing silently around Vector’s head. 

“Hey, where’s Espio?” Sonic suddenly observed. 

Everyone glanced around the room, suddenly realizing that Espio was not among them. Vector already knew where he was. 

“Oh, he’s a ninja,” Vector told them dismissively, waving his hand. “Elusive as ever, ya know him. He’s probably already outside!”

“No I’m not,” a disembodied voice said from nearby. Vector’s face momentarily expressed his utter bewilderment as Espio seemed to materialize right before him. 

“Oh, you’ve been here this whole time!” Vector remarked, knowing full well that Espio had only arrived moments ago. It was a stunt he commonly pulled. 

Sonic shrugged, and Amy rolled her eyes. 

“We should be goin’, Sonic,” Vector said. 

“You’re always free to stop by you g-” Sonic started, but was interrupted by Amy’s hand clasping over his mouth. 

“You’re right, Vector,” she told him.

Knuckles waved his oversized hand. “Good luck with the investigation, guys!”

Sonic tore his mouth away from Amy’s grasp and shook his head out. “Wait, you guys never said anything about an investigation!”

“Oh uh,” replied Knuckles, stealing a glance in Vector’s direction who raised a reptilian eyebrow. “It’s about uh, Big the Cat! He lost Froggy again and these guys were helping the poor guy out. Isn’t that right?”

Vector shot Knuckles a thumbs up and subtly smirked. 

“Oh… alright then,” Sonic responded, slightly confused. “Good luck with that, guys.”

“Thanks Sonic!” Charmy squealed. “Big makes some really good food, doesn’t he?”

Sonic’s mind wandered to Big’s specialty Chili Dogs. “You can say that again.”

“It was nice to see you guys again,” Espio told Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles. 

They all told Espio likewise. As the team left, Knuckles shut the door behind them.

Once they were at a safe distance from the house, Vector confronted Espio. 

“What did ya see, Espio?” Vector asked excitedly. “In the basement, I mean. You musta seen somethin’ down there.”

Espio nodded. “There was a dark room in the corner, covered up by some boxes so that we wouldn’t notice it. I took a peek inside, and…”

Charmy was practically falling over with anticipation. “AND? AND WHAT ESPIO?”

“Stop shoutin’, Charmy!” Vector cried, slapping his hand over the bee’s mouth and gesturing behind him to the house. “They’ll hear us!”

Amid Charmy’s muffled shouts of excitement from underneath Vector’s gloved hands, Espio continued. “Well, I could be wrong. It was dark and I didn’t have much time to scope out the area. But, from what I gathered in the short time I was there for, Metal Sonic was trapped in their basement.”

“METAL SONIC?” Vector and Charmy cried in unison, after Vector released his grip on his younger team member. 

“Keep it down,” Espio replied, his expression serious. “If I’m correct, they’re keeping him trapped down there. He doesn’t have enough strength to break free, and barely enough to even power on. Maybe he’s broken or something. But when I came down, he spoke to me and told me to get him out. Of course I shut the door right away, but it leads me to wonder if Sonic is keeping him down there or if Metal Sonic is stowed away there, waiting for an opportunity. My initial assumption would be the latter, but he wouldn’t have told me to get him out if he was there voluntarily.”

“Maybe he hid out down there, but then ran out of batteries and can’t get out!” Charmy chimed in. 

“That’s a possibility,” said Vector, deep in thought. “Based on their reactions, though, I think it’s safe to assume that Sonic has at least some idea that Metal is down there.”

“Their reactions?” Espio asked. 

Vector nodded. “Remember when we heard that loud noise from the basement? That musta been Metal Sonic. Sonic and Amy looked pretty worried when they heard the noise, and Knuckles wasn’t too keen on having you go with him, was he?’

Espio had to agree with him. All three of them were very easy to read. 

“The only plausible explanation is that they know he’s down there, and they’re keeping him in,” Vector continued. “That would explain why Knuckles is there too, if he’s guarding the place.”

“But why do they need Metal Sonic?” Charmy wondered. 

Vector shook his head, his long snout nearly knocking Charmy out of the air. “I don’t know, Charmy. But somethin’s fishy around here, and it ain’t Big’s Diner.”

“I wish it was,” Charmy mumbled in reply. Vector and Espio nodded in agreement. 

****

Back in the basement, there was a low hum permeated by the sound of light metallic grinding. Metal Sonic’s eyes flickered to life once more, piercing the darkness. Nothing could be heard beyond the walls of the basement, but Metal Sonic knew he was better off not being heard. 

His sinister, robotic voice pierced the silence as he gazed straight ahead, his eyes conveying no emotion. 

“All life form data has been copied.”


	3. Blazing Inferno

Watching the trio of detectives leave, Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles waited in silence and closed the door. As soon as they were out of earshot, Sonic and Amy turned to Knuckles, their hands on their hips. 

“Knuckles,” the blue hedgehog began. 

“Espio didn’t see anything down there, did he?” the pink hedgehog finished. 

Knuckles shook his head. “Nah, Charmy came in and scared the daylights out of us before he could look around anymore.”

“Phew,” Sonic said. “I guess that settles that.”

“It most certainly does not!” Amy barked. Sonic seemed taken aback. 

Amy continued speaking. “He was invisible earlier, remember? Who’s to say he didn’t have a look around while Vector was flapping his big scaly mouth?”

Sonic and Knuckles exchanged a glance and shrugged. 

“Even if he did, it’s not like they’d do anything about it,” Knuckles told her. Sonic nodded in agreement. 

With a stern expression, Amy lifted her hands from her hips and slammed them back on, as if to make a point. “What if they were secretly investigating Metal Sonic for Dr. Eggman?”

“A case from Eggman?” Sonic repeated. “I don’t know if they would do that, given their record with him.”

“You know how desperate for money they are,” Amy reminded him. “And weren’t you on my side a second ago, Sonic?”

Sonic laughed nervously and turned to face Knuckles, putting his hands on his hips and dramatically mimicking Amy's expression.

“Don’t worry, Amy,” Knuckles replied. “As long as we have Tails working on this project, this whole thing will blow over in no time!”

“I hope you’re right, Knuckles,” the pink hedgehog said, looking out the window at Team Chaotix’s rapidly shrinking silhouettes on the horizon. 

****

Sonic yawned and threw his arms above his head in a stretch. “I’m gonna go stretch my legs a bit.”

He bent down and fastened his shoe buckles tightly, his blue quills flopping around on the back of his head. The minute he finished fiddling with his shoes, he blasted out of the front door at the speed of sound, leaving Amy and Knuckles all alone. Knuckles shrugged and trudged downstairs as Amy went the opposite direction to the second floor. 

_ This is nice, _ Sonic thought as the wind whipped around him. His arms and quills trailed his body. He glanced down and saw nothing but red and blue blurs where his legs would be. 

“Aw yeah, this is happening!” he cried in an effort to pump himself up. He rapidly arrived at an open grassy field with rocky cliffs surrounding it on two sides. Gathering up his speed, he bolted towards the cliff and used his momentum to run along the cliff face. He grinned. 

_ Nothing like a cliffside run after a long day_, he thought. A jagged outcropping ahead forced the hedgehog to change course, and he sharply veered left and shot of the top off the cliff. After curling into a ball and flipping a few times in his usual manner, he landed on his feet, with his head down. 

_ Gotta make this look flashy, of course_, he thought, whipping his head up and looking straight ahead with determination before taking off again. He vaulted over a boulder and slid under some ledges, until he arrived at the edge of a forest. Not letting up his speed, he dashed straight in. The trees came at him left and right, but he deftly eluded them, sidestepping and spinning to avoid them. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Sonic saw a flash of purple followed by a burst of fire. Before he even had a chance to react, there was a sharp pain in his head and he was on the ground, sliding at an incredible speed before he stopped by smashing into a particularly large rock. 

_ What was that? _ Sonic thought, rubbing his head and wincing. He looked up, but his vision was blurred. All he could make out was a violet smudge a few feet away from him among the trees and the rock around him. 

_ I must have crashed into whoever that was,_ Sonic thought, his vision beginning to refocus. _ I hope I didn’t hurt them too badly… _

Sonic pulled himself to his feet, but leaned over and cradled his head in his hands. Nearby, he noticed the other figure doing the same. As the figure stood up, Sonic got a better view of her. Her long, purple jacket, her white leggings, her hair tied up in a ponytail, and her feline disposition were unmistakable. Sonic knew exactly who it was. 

“Blaze?”

Blaze the Cat turned to face her blue friend, a pained expression also etched upon her face. Her clothes were tattered and wrinkled, presumably from the collision. She had a very tired look in her eyes, but seemed happy to see Sonic despite her expression remaining flat. 

“Sonic,” she said, a small smile worming its way onto her lips. “I had a feeling that was you.”

"Blaze!" Sonic replied. "Long time no see."

A green glint nearby caught Sonic’s eye. This time he instantly knew exactly what it was. 

“A Chaos Emerald?” he exclaimed, snatching the magical rock off the ground. It was Sonic’s favorite Emerald, the green one. For some reason, it always made him slightly thirsty. Perhaps it was the soft sheen, or the semi-transparent, yet pure color that made him feel that way. Sonic had no idea, but suddenly he really wanted some water. Maybe he was just dehydrated from running.

Blaze surveyed Sonic calmly as he inspected the Chaos Emerald extremely closely and his mouth watered. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, half expecting him to eat the emerald whole. 

Sonic snapped back to reality. “Hey Blaze, do you think I could hang on to this? I could use one of these.”

Blaze nodded curtly and Sonic stowed the Emerald away. 

“What are you doing way out here?” she inquired. “Last I heard, you were living in the city with Tails.”

Sonic shook his head. “Nah, I moved in with Amy.”

Blaze seemed taken aback. “Amy? Then… are you…”

Sonic nodded sheepishly. “We live nearby. Knuckles has been staying with us for the past few days too.’

The blue hedgehog suddenly sprang to his feet and began to jog in place. “I was just out on a run. It’s hard to stay cooped up in that house all day, and it’s even harder when Knuckles is around.”

Blaze chuckled. “I would imagine.”

“So how about you, Blaze?” Sonic asked, still jogging in place. “What brings you out here?”

She crossed her arms. “Actually, I was looking for you, Sonic.”

Sonic stopped running. “For me? What for?”

Blaze scooted closer to Sonic and looked around before lowering her voice. “I’ve been tracking Eggman for a few days. He’s been off the radar for a few months now, which I thought was suspicious, so I decided to pay him a visit. He hasn’t been doing anything out of the ordinary for him, building robots, laughing for no apparent reason, making Orbot and Cubot do menial tasks, the usual. A few days ago, I was snooping as usual around his lab and I noticed he had left his computer open. I couldn’t get much out of it, but I did find something on there about Metal Sonic. Something about a power overload or something.”

“That’s old news, Blaze,” Sonic cut in. “We’ve got Metal Sonic with us, he’s detained and shut down.”

“I’m not finished,” the skinnier purple cat continued. “I almost didn’t make it out of there in one piece that day. Not long after I saw that file, all the alarms went off. I had to make a break for it, but suddenly I was ambushed by Eggman’s robots. Normally, I could defeat them all easily, but there was something different about these ones. Long story short, he captured me and kept me locked up for days while he decided what to do with me. Obviously he interrogated me. He asked why I was there, what I saw, and what I was looking for. I didn’t have much to hide, considering how little I saw, so I told him everything. After a few days, I had tried everything, but he seemed to have a Blaze-proof cage prepared, as well as one for the majority of us, such as Knuckles, Amy, Tails, Shadow, and the rest of them. However, I don’t think he had figured out a way to keep you in just yet.”

“Wait, back up,” Sonic cut in again. “He has prisons built for all of us? What do you mean?”

Blaze nodded. “A cage that plays to the weakness of all of us. Take Knuckles for example. The walls and ground are shock absorbent and nearly unbreakable, especially for his fists. If Knuckles was in there, he would not be able to punch or dig himself out. If you or I were in there, for example, we could run right through the wall with our speed. Knuckles lacks that ability, and that’s why the cage was built for him. Does that make sense?”

Sonic nodded grimly. 

“As I was saying. At some point, Eggman was not around and I was sitting alone in my icy, shatterproof cage. It had been a few days at this point, and I was getting really sick of being there. I thought it had to have been a mirage at the time, but the door suddenly opened. I was confused as to who released me. It was certainly not Dr. Eggman, nor was it any of his robots. And I never did learn who mysteriously released me from my confinement, but I was free. As I was escaping, I discovered the reason I had been captured in the first place. The reason his robots were so powerful that time.”

Blaze paused for effect and took a breath. 

“Sonic. He had six of the Chaos Emeralds. He was siphoning their power into his robots, which is how they were able to stop me with such ease. I took a peek into his lab on the way out and managed to snatch that emerald right out from under his nose and make my escape. He only has five emeralds now, but that’s still a force to be reckoned with. He has to be planning something."

“This has to be his most heinous plan yet,” remarked Sonic, pacing back and forth. 

“That’s not all,” Blaze continued. 

Sonic groaned. “Don’t tell me there’s more...”

Blaze nodded gravely. “I’m afraid so. It may be nothing, but a few days ago I was in the city, eating at Big’s Diner. It’s really quite good, you should try it.”

“Oh believe me,” said Sonic, “I’m a frequent customer.”

Blaze smiled. “Anyway, on the way out I saw Eggman making a really terrible attempt to disguise himself as he walked through the city. I followed him around for a little while, and eventually he went somewhere I did not expect him to. He went into the new Chaotix headquarters.”

Sonic’s eyes widened. _ Chaotix? _ he thought. _ So they were working for Eggman. I wonder what he asked them to do. _

“I don’t think they are actively working against you,” she continued. “They would not side with Eggman over you, I know that much. Eggman must be trying to trick them into doing something he did not specifically ask them to do, most likely against their knowledge. Be cautious of them.”

****

Sonic dashed back through his front door and stopped on a dime. The door slowly fell shut behind him and he made absolutely certain to lock it behind him. The last thing he wanted was to face Amy’s wrath in the morning if she found out he had not secured it. He flung his shoes off and trudged upstairs after grabbing a snack from the kitchen. He absentmindedly tossed the green Chaos Emerald up and down in his hand as he walked and eventually set it down on the kitchen table. When he entered his bedroom, he could hear the patter of water from the room next door, signifying that Amy was in the shower. A small smile crossed his face at the thought of her and he jumped into their bed, mulling over what Blaze had told him. 

_ Espio must have seen Metal Sonic, that’s the only thing I can think of. But how did he know where to look? Did Eggman tell him? Or was he just snooping as usual while he was invisible? No, there’s no way Eggman would know exactly where in the house we have Metal, or even that we have him in this house. Unless Eggman’s been spying on us… nah, then he wouldn’t have even needed the Chaotix in the first place. Espio probably just happened to see the door, and just happened to have gone in and found what he was looking for. But… was he actually looking for it? Blaze said that Eggman was tricking them, so maybe he had no idea Metal Sonic was here. Vector is a good detective, he must have known that something wasn’t right, especially with the way Knuckles was acting. Stupid Knuckles, he’s always gotta ruin things. I’ll have to ask him to tomorrow what Espio- _

Sonic’s train of thought was cut short by Amy re-entering the room. She was already dressed in her comfy pajamas consisting of a soft, long-sleeved t-shirt and warm pants with pictures of Sonic’s face on them. She smiled at Sonic when she walked in and Sonic smiled back. 

“How was your run, dear?” she asked, hanging up her damp towel on a hook near the door. 

Sonic jumped out of bed and pulled on a pair of matching pajama pants with Amy’s face all over them. “Oh, you know. Exhilarating. Fast. Epic. The usual. And you’ll never guess who I ran into in the woods.”

“Hm?” asked Amy, facing the mirror and examining her face. Sonic chuckled when he noticed Amy’s tail poking out of a new hole in her pants that she had presumably cut herself. 

_ I should do that _, he thought. 

“It was Blaze,” Sonic replied. “And when I say I ran into her, I don’t mean metaphorically.”

Amy turned around to face him, wincing slightly. “Ouch, be careful Sonic. Are you okay? And was she okay?”

“Yeah, we’re both fine,” Sonic told her. “She was looking for me, actually.”

“What?” snapped Amy, suddenly jealous. “What did she want with my Sonic?”

“She just wanted to warn me about Eggman, Amy,” Sonic said. “Don’t worry, she wasn’t coming on to me or anything. Besides, I’m not YOUR Sonic, I’m everyone’s Sonic. Sonic is a man of the people.”

Amy rolled her eyes and turned back to the mirror. “And Amy thinks its weird when Sonic talks in the third person. Well, at least you didn’t bring her back home with you. What’s that d-bag Eggman planning this time?”

“It's kind of a long story,” Sonic responded. “It would probably be easier to tell you and Knux together in the morning."

"That reminds me," Amy said with a genuine smile, "are you ready to continue our talk from earlier?" 

Sonic laughed nervously. "I dunno, Ames. I guess can try, but you know I'm not too good with emotional-" 

His words were interrupted by a bang from the floor below them, immediately followed by Knuckles crying out in pain. 

They both paused and listened, expecting a follow up of some sort. However, there was only silence. Finally, Sonic spoke up. “You okay down there, Knux?”

“I stubbed my damn toe!” Knuckles hollered back angrily. Suddenly, Sonic and Amy could not control their laughter. 

Still giggling, Amy gently climbed into her bed and nuzzled up to Sonic.

"That's okay, Sonic," she told him with a gentle smile. "You don't have to say it if you aren't ready yet. I already know how you feel."

She closed her eyes and smiled peacefully. Still not fully sure how to react in this situation, Sonic put his arm around her and held her close. With his other arm, he propped his head up and gazed at her. He never would have imagined this happening if he was not living it.

When he was younger, he was staunchy opposed to the idea of dating. As the years passed by and he grew more mature, he realized that he'd only been running away from feelings he didn't know how to handle.

Amy also learned how to show her affection in a more controlled manner. He was never in tune with his own emotions, but it weren't for Amy, he'd never have learned how to deal with his confusing feelings. That realization is also what led him to give dating Amy a shot. He'd always liked her, but he was afraid to admit it, and too awkward to deal with it.

Sonic felt a weird pang in his chest as he thought back to his teenage years, something of a mix of nostalgia and embarassment. He still liked to let Amy chase him sometimes, just to relive old memories.

Life got a little slow for him at times living in a house with her, but he wasn’t as restricted as he thought he would be. In fact, he kind of enjoyed the change of pace. 

_ As long as I still get to run, staying in one place every now and then isn’t so bad. And plus, I get to live with Amy. If only Knuckles wasn't here... _

Sonic sighed and laid his head down. He had a lot to think about, but he decided to take it up with Amy and Knuckles the next day. For today, he was pretty exhausted, and he drifted off to sleep in no time at all. 

****

Back at the office, Vector, Espio, and Charmy lounged around in the main room. All the lights were off except for a dim lamp in the corner. Moonlight streamed in through the window. 

“Let’s go over what we know, boys,” Vector announced. He glanced over to Espio. 

“Right,” acknowledged the ninja as he stood up and yanked a large whiteboard on wheels from Vector’s office. He pulled the cap off the marker and began to write. Vector leaned back in his seat and Charmy buzzed closer. Espio orated the meeting. 

“Today around noon, Eggman came to us with a case. That case was to break up Sonic and Amy. Very suspicious.”

He drew a simplistic doodle of Eggman looking angry on the left side of the board. 

“To get some more information, we went to visit Tails at his workshop,” Espio continued. He drew Tails at the bottom of the whiteboard, surrounded by a bunch of squiggly lines. 

“What’s with the lines?” Charmy asked. 

Espio seemed taken aback, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “That’s all the junk he tinkers with. See?”

Charmy flew in closer. “Oh yeah, I see it now. NOT! You’re a bad artist, Espio!”

“I bet you can’t do any better!” retorted Espio. 

Charmy snatched the marker out of Espio’s hand and drew an unflattering yet oddly accurate portrait of Espio on the board. He stuck out his tongue and tossed the marker back to Espio. Vector looked on with amusement. 

“Like I was saying,” Espio continued, clearly annoyed, “we went to visit Tails. He was acting pretty oddly too. He’s Sonic’s best friend, but he hadn’t seen him in a while? Sonic doesn’t seem like the type of person to just cut Tails out of his life like that, especially if it’s between him and Knuckles. Which brings me to the next point.”

Espio turned back to the board and drew Knuckles on the right. Above Knuckles, he doodled Sonic and Amy with a heart drawn between them. 

“Knuckles is living with Sonic and Amy.” 

Espio drew a box around the couple.

“That by itself was pretty weird. But what was even weirder was the way they were acting. They had an eyehole on the door so they could confirm someone’s identity before letting them in. And when I knocked that glass of the table, Amy and Knuckles reacted really quickly. It was like they were on edge the whole time, expecting something. If you guys hadn’t bailed me out of there, I probably would have gotten a faceful of hammer.”

“It’s what I do,” Vector said with a grin.

“Once we were all in, we heard a loud sound from the basement. At this point, Knuckles had noticed that I was there earlier and confronted me about it, but I fed him a fake story and he bought it. Best part is, it turned out to be real. But I digress. After some sneaking around, I found a door in the basement. When I went inside, all I could see were a pair of glowing eyes that I can only assume belonged to Metal Sonic.”

Espio paused and drew Metal Sonic underneath Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles, outside of the box they were in. 

“Metal Sonic seemed to be stuck or held captive there, or else he wouldn’t have demanded I help him escape. One thing’s for sure, he seemed to be really upset.”

He turned back to the board and, at the top, drew Vector, Charmy, and himself. 

“The question is, how do we play into this? What’s our course of action from here?”

Vector stood up. “You’re getting pretty good at this, Espio!”

The croc grabbed the marker from Espio’s hand, and the ninja took that as his cue to have a seat. 

“Alright boys, time for the sleuthing part.”

Vector drew a line connecting Sonic and Tails. “First of all, it’s obvious that Tails is involved with all this. Of course he’s seen Sonic, they’re best friends. Plus, Tails is really good with machines. An’ what’s Metal Sonic? That’s right, a machine.”

Once again, he turned to the board and drew a line between Eggman and the power couple Sonic and Amy. 

“Eggman told us that he wants these two broken up. Maybe he actually wants that too, but there has to be some underlying motive there. If Eggman wanted them broken up, we’re hardly the ones for the job. So that begs the question: what does he really want?”

The room was silent as the dim moonlight streamed into the room from the wide open window, save for the squeaking of Vector’s marker as he wrote. The faint hustle and bustle of the city could be heard below them, and the window afforded a great view of the skyline. Vector broke the stillness when he turned to speak again. He had drawn a line between Eggman and Metal Sonic, with a question mark next to it. 

“From where I’m standin’, it looks like Eggman could be after one of three things. The first possibility is Metal Sonic. Someone that Sonic and Amy trust, up for hire. That’s us. He could be usin’ us to get intel on Metal Sonic. It’s also possible that he wants us to break them up because it would cause a big rift between Sonic and his friends, makin’ it easier for Eggman to swoop in and take Metal Sonic. But no matter the specific means, the possibility remains that he is after Metal.”

Vector paused his speech and drew a line between the Chaotix and Eggman, with lines branching off towards Tails and Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles. He put another question mark next to this line.

“Another possibility is that he’s leadin’ us all into a trap. Sonic may think he has a cap on Metal, but with that bucket o’ bolts in his basement, it’s an ambush waitin’ to happen. Metal could be bidin' his time, waitin' for his chance to strike. That would take care of Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles. Then there’s us, who are obviously goin’ to Eggman’s lair to investigate. Eggman knows we don’t trust the guy, so he may know that we’re not just blindly followin’ his orders. Plus, he ain’t stupid, despite the vibe he gives off.”

Charmy suddenly piped in. “What if Eggman knew that we were gonna figure this out? What if he planned around that, and we’re falling into his trap right now?”

“He has a point,” Espio agreed. “Eggman is a wild card here, we have no idea how far ahead he has thought. In the past, some of his plans have been very simplistic, while others have been elaborate. It’s hard to predict him.”

“I see what you’re sayin’,” Vector said thoughtfully. Espio could practically see the gears turning in his head. 

The head honcho cracked a small grin and turned back to the board. 

“Like I was saying, the second possibility is that it could all be a trap,” he continued. “Of course, it could be both of these. Maybe Metal Sonic _ is _ the trap.”

The room fell quiet once again. 

“What’s the third possibility, boss?” Charmy finally asked. 

“Whadda ya talkin’ about?” Vector questioned back.

“You said earlier that there were three possibilities!” the bee replied.

Vector grinned. “The third possibility is that Eggman genuinely wants Sonic and Amy broken up because he’s just jealous of Amy. In that scenario, the mustachioed moron is on his own!”

Charmy started snickering. “Eggman loves Sonic! Eggman loves Sonic!”

“Knock it off, ya annoying fly!” Vector yelled. “Isn’t it about time ya went to bed?”

“I don’t wanna go to bed!” Charmy whined. 

“We’ve got a long day tomorrow so ya better get rested up!” Vector said. 

“What’s going on tomorrow?” inquired Espio. 

“Glad ya asked!” Vector cried out heartily. “Tomorrow we’re investigatin’ Eggman! It is an executive decision by yours truly.”

“Uh, boss?” Charmy asked in an indoor voice. “Didn’t you say Eggman set up a trap for us at his base? If we go to investigate him, wouldn’t we be falling right into his trap?”

“Only one way to find out!” Vector cried out again. “Now off to bed, both of ya! We leave first thing tomorrow morning.”

The sun had just poked its head over the mountains in the distance and it’s rays shone through the thick trees of the forest. A morning wetness hung about the air among the cold that followed dawn. Rays of light reflected off all the dew, causing the forest to look like a gleaming field of crystal. Cream the Rabbit cheerfully skipped down a narrow dirt pathway at the edge of the thicket, toting a neatly made picnic basket in her hands. Her ears flopped in the wind and her Chao, Cheese, followed closely behind her. He flew with a fat grin on his face as he followed after his companion. In the distance, the young rabbit saw her destination. A small house just outside of the woods, with the silhouette of the city shimmering behind it in the distance. The day before, her friends in the Chaotix Detective Agency had been there, but she had seen exactly where Tails told them to go to find Amy’s house. Having not seen her best friend in what felt like ages, she decided to pay a visit. She was overjoyed as she gleefully skipped up to Amy’s house and knocked on the door. To her surprise, the door swung ajar. 

Cream peeked inside the door, her eyebrows furrowed. She knew it wasn’t like Amy to leave her front door unlocked. 

“Amy?” she squeaked into the quiet house. “Mister Sonic?”

Vanilla raised Cream well enough for her to know that she should not barge into people’s houses uninvited, but Cream felt this was a special circumstance as she pushed her way through the door. 

“Is anyone home?” she called out again. “You left the front door open.”

Cheese followed Cream into the house, a worried look sprawled across his face. The house was dim as the light of the day began to peek through the drawn shades. Long shadows spread across the floor. Although it was starting to warm up outside, the house remained cool. Cream could hear each step she took echoing on the tiled floor of the entryway. She made her way into the main room of the house and slowly glanced around, putting her picnic basket down. Her heart started to pound faster as she noticed an ominous green light emanating from behind her. Slowly, she spun around to face it, not knowing what she may encounter. 

“A chaos emerald!” she sighed, relieved. Cheese cooed in excitement. Cream wandered closer to the glowing, pulsating stone, sending a sprawling shadow across the floor that got dark and protracted as she approached. She scooped it up in her hand, its power radiating as soon as it was touched. It was heavier than Cream remembered it being. She could feel its energy coursing through her as she lifted it up and examined it. 

There was a rustle and a dull thud from nearby. Cream jerked upright instantly and glanced around. The emerald fell to the table with a clatter, it’s light dimming somewhat. Cheese sheltered himself behind Cream’s shoulder and looked over in apprehension. Gulping, the yellow rabbit located the origin of the sound. A downwards staircase inside a doorway in the corner led into complete darkness. Suddenly, she had an intense desire to run away. It was as if rancor itself had taken on an overbearing physical form and threatened her with it’s darkness. A flat, metallic smell wafted towards her and she suddenly felt an ominous, apathetic atmosphere take hold of the house. Fear told her to turn tail and flee, yet all her legs did was push her forward towards the looming darkness. 

Each wooden stair creaked as Cream stepped down the staircase into the unknown. Her vision adjusted as she squinted her eyes to pierce the veil of blackness. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a dim, red glow. Shaking, she slowly turned around to face the origin of the phosphorescence. She could make out a small sliver of light coming from behind what she could only assume to be a door. 

“Chao chao…” whimpered Cheese. Cream tucked him close to her chest and continued forward. 

She pushed the door open with a drawn out creak. Cream’s vision blurred momentarily as she tried to make out the shape in front of her. Two u-shaped eyes beamed out of the darkness. Cream opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. She was frozen in shock. 

“Free… me…”, a cracked, metallic voice whispered. Cream could feel her hand being sucked towards the figure before her as she finally realized who she had come face to face with. At last, she opened her mouth and shrieked in horror. 

Green energy started to crackle around her hand and she felt a strange force dragging it towards the robot in front of her. The pulsing green light illuminated the room, revealing the malevolent face of Metal Sonic looming through the darkness. His pointed nose and flat, emotionless face lit up green from the residual energy of the emerald as his eyes began to grow brighter and brighter. 

“Extracting Chaos energy…” his voice rang out. “Copying life form data…!”

“Cream, no!” a voice rang out from behind her. The red guardian had awoken from his slumber, but it was too late. Despite her best efforts to stop, Cream’s hand touched Metal Sonic’s cold exterior and energy coursed through his entire body. 

Cream fell backwards as the glow faded from her hand and the connection broke. Metal Sonic rose up into the air. A red blur barged into the room and made for Metal Sonic, only to be met with failure as he slid to the ground. A loud humming noise filled the air as Metal Sonic began to exude energy. He rose up, illuminating the whole room. Panicked, Cream frantically looked behind her and saw Sonic and Amy burst into the basement. Still in her pajamas, Amy charged first at Metal Sonic, issuing a war cry as she drew and swung her hammer. She was flung back as she hit what could only be an energy shield. 

“Chaos control!” a powerful voice bellowed from behind her. In a blink of the eye, Metal Sonic was lying face down on the concrete floor with Sonic the Hedgehog standing over him. 

Metal Sonic was not finished yet. He spun around and fired a blast of energy from his hands, which Sonic deftly avoided. It left a hole through the ceiling and the sun shone down through the roof. Amy screamed in rage because Metal Sonic was ruining her house. She charged, swinging her hammer like a maniac. Metal Sonic bounced to his feet and blasted forward, charging towards Amy at an incredible speed. Sonic dove in at the last second and pushed her out of the way, grabbing her and protecting her fall. Amy gave him a quick kiss and he blushed a bright red. Metal Sonic ground to a halt and dramatically turned around. His thrusters turned on and he levitated in place for a moment, coldly surveying the crowd in front of him. 

A momentary silence ensued as Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles clambered to their feet. Sonic and Metal Sonic’s eyes were locked in an intense glare, as if they were fighting a battle of attrition with their eyes. That is, until a gleaming fireball struck Metal Sonic from the side and knocked him into a wall. Blaze the Cat revealed herself on the stairs, tendrils of fire still escaping her outstretched hand. She turned to Sonic and bowed curtly. 

“I saw the blast from outside,” she said, pointing at the hole in the ceiling. “It seems you could use some help.”

“Blaze!” exclaimed Sonic. “You made it!”

Blaze smiled. “I wouldn’t miss it for the-”

She was cut off my a blast of energy from Metal Sonic that sent her flying back up the stairs. 

“YOU ARE DESTROYING MY HOUSE YOU ROBO-ASS,” cried Amy as she charged forward. Her hammer connected this time, sending Metal Sonic ricocheting off the wall and shooting after Blaze.

Knuckles charged upstairs after Metal Sonic and Blaze, followed by Sonic. 

Amy turned to Cream, who was cowering in the corner. Her expression softened and she pulled her friend into a tight hug. 

“Cream, honey, I am so glad you are safe,” she said, releasing her and holding her at arm’s length. “Stay down here, okay?”

Cream nodded. Cheese, still hiding behind her shoulder, cooed meekly in agreement.

The pink hedgehog leaned in closer, her voice little more than a whisper. Barely audible over the din above, she spoke into Cream’s ear. “Do not come upstairs, whatever you do. We will defeat Metal Sonic. But if things go very, very wrong, don’t come after us. Stay down here and hide. Make sure he doesn’t see you.”

Amy smiled and dashed off after her friends to join the conflict. Cream’s eyes followed her warily.

Any normal child would not have been able to even comprehend what was going on here. A robot breaking out of a dark closet in the basement and fighting against your friends as if their lives depended on it is a lot for a 12 year old to handle. But Cream had been through it all. She had battled Metal Sonic before, and she knew all about his arch rivalry with Sonic and their ongoing conflict. After all, Cream had been exposed to the evil of Dr. Eggman on more than one occasion, and always came out the victor. As the sounds of battle roared upstairs, Cream sat down and reflected on her conflict with the cold machine known as Metal Sonic. Time and time again, she and her friends have butted heads with him, and time and time again they came out victorious. There was no reason to believe this time would be any different.

For some reason, though, Cream had a bad feeling. 

****

Metal Sonic stood over the weakened forms of his four enemies, lying dazed on the ground. The power of the Chaos Emerald coursed through him, and green energy radiated from his clawed hands. He looked down at his foe, Sonic. The one who was truly the copy. In his hand he still clutched the Chaos Emerald. Metal Sonic watched as his organic counterpart stumbled to his feet with a pained look on his face. Keeled over with one hand on his knee, Sonic raised the Chaos Emerald up above his head. 

“Chaos…. Cont-”

Before he could finish his sentence, a beam of energy sent the Chaos Emerald careening from Sonic’s hand. The blue hedgehog looked on in horror as Metal Sonic raised his arm towards him. And then, he looked no more. Metal Sonic watched as the Chaos Emerald careened down the stairs and fell to the bottom with a light clink. If Metal could have smiled, he would have as he stepped over his vanquished foes back into the darkness below. 


	4. Infiltration

Darkness clouded the sky over Eggman’s lair, and nary a ray of sunshine could break through. Espio wasn’t entirely sure if this was coincidence, or if Eggman was manipulating the atmosphere around his base to make it seem more sinister. He was almost certain it was the latter. He surveyed the surroundings. Built into a large cliffside was a protruding red and gray metallic structure. Numerous smaller, temple-like structures surrounded the main area. Connecting these smaller buildings was a thick crimson wall that formed a semicircle around the middle, connecting to the cliff at both ends. At various spaced out locations, girthy silver cables stretched from the wall to the top of the main structure, giving the appearance of a net-like roof. Electrical impulses flowed down these wires into the outer wall, presumably supplying power to it from the primary generator within. The main building had a design akin to a large rocket silo, being rounded at the top like a large bullet. It bore Eggman’s sinister visage, made entirely of steel and carved masterfully to overlook the entire base. A cold, foreboding aura hung over the base. The air felt heavy, and a strange glow emanated from within. The ground around the perimeter was composed of solid rock, with no grass to be seen. Where Eggman got the money to make all of this, Espio could not even hazard a guess. 

The Chaotix Detectives hovered towards the lair in Vector’s decrepit car. It baffled Espio that the bucket of bolts managed to stay intact at all, let alone move. Vector sat at the reigns of the vehicle, silently steering the detectives in the direction of the base with a frown etched across his face. Espio was in the passenger seat, surveying the scene in front of him as he used his arm to prop himself up against the window. In the back, Charmy gleefully munched on a chewy, honey-coated granola bar that he had snagged on the way out of the agency. 

Of course, they had known exactly where Eggman’s base was the entire time, regarding it as common knowledge. They would be hard pressed to find someone in the city who didn't know, despite Eggman's belief that it remained a secret. It was hard to miss, but also quite dangerous to approach. 

Vector parked the car atop a hill overlooking the garrison and procured a pair of binoculars. They all sat in dead silence for a few moments, only permeated by the sound of Charmy finishing his food in the back seat. Vector finally lowered the binoculars turned to face his friends. 

“There’s a main entrance in the front, and a side entrance over to the right near the cliffside. Both look to be extremely well guarded, but if our intel is correct, the door off to the right should be able ‘ta be opened from the outside. Espio, that one is all you.”

Espio nodded in acknowledgement. Both of them then turned to Charmy as Vector continued speaking. 

“Charmy, I’ll need you to fly over the base and see if there’s a rear entrance or another way in, that way we-“

Vector was cut off by the sound of Charmy giggling and muttering something about how rear was another word for butt. Vector glared at him and told him to knock it off. 

“Like I was sayin',” he continued. “We need to know what’s goin’ on inside of that base. Charmy will need to go and get a closer look. Espio, once you’re in, find the switch to open the main door. It should be in that control tower over there in the middle, the one with Eggman’s ugly mug on it.”

“That’s so Eggman!” cried Charmy. 

“Once Espio opens the front gate, I’ll come in through there. I have a handy disguise that I’ve been workin’ on, and I’m happy to say that today I am formally unveilin’ it. Of course, once we’re done in there we can all escape the same way we came in.”

“How will I get in, boss?” asked Charmy. 

“You have wings, ya bee!” Vector screamed, lunging forward and grabbing Charmy’s wings. 

“Release my wings!” Charmy yelped in response, kicking and screaming as he desperately tried to break free of Vector’s vice grip. The croc released his hold on him suddenly, and he shot face first into a nearby boulder. 

“Maybe you guys should be a little louder,” Espio observed. “There may be a robot in Eggman’s base who didn’t hear that commotion.”

Vector straightened himself back upright as Charmy buzzed back into the air. Both of them lowered their voices. 

“As I was sayin’”, he continued, “Charmy will be flyin' over the base providin’ us with recon info. Both of you should take one of these walkie talkies so we can all keep updated.”

He handed one walkie talkie to Espio, who tucked it away securely, and another to Charmy, who regarded it as a new plaything to abuse. 

Vector groaned. “I’m already regrettin’ this.”

****

High above Eggman’s base, Charmy surveyed the sprawling structure. It was at least two miles in diameter, with large open spaces in between buildings. Crimson and gray flooring with circuitry winding through them marked the place off in Charmy’s mind as very stereotypically Eggman-y. Charmy wondered what the Doctor must have been thinking when he built this base with the intent of having it be a secret. 

His mind started to wander. He glanced up at the sky and saw that the clouds were turning a dark grey. It was likely that rain was coming soon. He decided to radio it in, only for Vector to respond quite harshly that the weather is not important information to the case. Still, Charmy felt everything was worth reporting, especially since he could now bother his friends from so far away! He grinned to himself as he thought about how he was going to mess with Espio from above. Glancing behind him, he saw that the magenta dot he knew to be Espio was no longer present next to the green dot he knew to be Vector. The plan was in motion. There was no commotion at the eastern gate to his right, which he figured to be good news. 

Charmy decided to take a closer look inside the base. He buzzed downwards, careful not to fly too close to the electrified wires spanning the area between. He squinted at the ground and at first saw nothing out of the ordinary for a base he knew belonged to Eggman. Robot parts littered the ground in some more abandoned areas, while in others there were smaller structures that contained control panels and repair stations for the robots roaming around. The outer buildings contained laboratories for Eggman to tinker in, which Charmy was able to vaguely make out through the windows. At the foundation of the main building was a large factory, out of which legions of freshly-produced mechs streamed, forming an organized grid in the middle of the base. While some robots worked to maintain the base, others had their skills honed via target calibration and performance adjustments. To Charmy, it looked like typical Eggman’s base stuff, almost painfully so. 

As he gazed upon this scene before him, he remembered something important that Espio had once told him. Charmy replayed the words in his head: 

_ Saying that one "chops firewood" is a fallacy; rather they would be "splitting" it. Chopping can only be done horizontally, which implies cutting a standing tree down. Splitting is done vertically, such as when making wood smaller for a fireplace. The fact that so many refer to the act of "splitting wood" as "chopping" it is an extreme case of misinformation that most people seem to have fallen victim to. As a matter of fact- _

No, that wasn’t it. Espio says a lot of things to him, but that particular monologue of his was one he wanted to blot out of his memory entirely. What was the correct quote again? He lifted his helmet and scratched his head as he tried to recall. Finally, Charmy remembered it, and this time the words echoed in his head for real:

_ Nothing is ever perfect enough to be ordinary. If something seems ordinary, take a closer look, because a mask of normalcy indicates something brewing beneath the facade. _

Heeding Espio’s words, Charmy doubled down and took a closer look. With extreme caution, he inched his way between the electrified cables and pushed his way further into the base. None of the robots had noticed him yet, likely due to his size and altitude, but without getting closer he would never be able to get to the bottom of this. When he drew close enough to finally see what the robots were really doing, he knew Vector would want to hear about it right away. 

****

Espio quietly snaked around a corner, slowly making his way to the central part of the base. After simply walking past all the unsuspecting robots and entering in the side door, he found himself in the middle of what could easily be mistaken for a military fortress. The garrison was even more imposing from the inside, with towering structures looming over his head casting long shadows onto the rocky ground below, a dull light shining on the cold, metallic structures through the clouds above, and the sounds of industry penetrating the air. Eggman’s face seemed to be sneering at him no matter where he stood. Surrounded by legions of mechs and robots, Espio found himself putting his ninja training to the ultimate test as he dodged, rolled, jumped, and hid from the robots while they hustled around him to serve their dark master. 

He noticed that some of the robots had a disquieting aura about them, being surrounded by a shroud of pure energy that caused them to surge power with every movement. Their bodies could barely handle the force radiating through them. Even with their robotic movements, they seemed otherworldly in how they surveyed each other. Though invisible, Espio could not help but feel as though some of these peculiar robots had noticed him slip by but made no movement to stop him. Attributing it to his imagination, he kept moving. He felt secure that if any of the robots had built in heat sensors and were able to spot him, they would have tried to stop him. Despite his confidence that he remained unseen, something about the whole situation instilled a sense of unease in him. 

Finally, he arrived at the central tower. It was more imposing in person. The metallic walls had no windows at all until the very top, many stories above Espio’s head. Large bolts held the steel plates in place to form a large silo-like structure that kept going up for what seemed like an eternity. As a ninja, Espio had trained himself to not he intimidated in the face of any scenario with adverse odds, but gazing up at the tower before him, he could not help but gulp. 

Once the door slid open to allow a new wave of robots to emerge from the main factory at the base, Espio slipped in. He observed the assembly line-like process as robot parts were assembled part by part through an automated process. Raw materials began near the top, at least 30 feet above Espio’s see-through head. As they cascaded down the line, they became processed into smaller parts, and then assembled into robot parts such as arms and legs, were put together to form a robot, and then plugged into a power source to complete their activation. A red glow hung over the place, and the stench of chemicals burned as Espio’s nose as he struggled to breathe in the fumes. 

Awestruck at the size of the place, the chameleon considered exploring the factory to finally satisfy his long running curiosity regarding Eggman’s means of production. Remembering the task at hand, he decided that the mission took precedence. Exiting out a door to the side of the line, Espio shot up flight after flight of stairs until he had ascended as far as he could. At the top of the tower was a large control room, with an egg-shaped chair at the center of the luminescent controls. A wide, narrow window overlooked the entire base. To his relief, he could not spot Vector or Charmy at all as he gazed out the window.

He was about to approach the main control panel when the elevator door slid open. A tall, imposing figure stood in the entryway; this time not shrouded by a cloak. Small, stick-like limbs supported his large, egg-shaped torso. His mustache swayed slightly in the breeze coming through the window, and the reflection of the light outside glinted off of his glasses. Wearing all red and black, he stood at least twice Espio’s height. It was none other than Dr. Eggman, a figure Espio knew all too well. Eggman frowned as he took a few steps forward and plunged into his chair at the center of the control panel. Orbot and Cubot, his two robo-assistants, flanked the doctor into the room. They silently observed him with their heads tilted slightly. 

“Muahahahahaha!” Eggman cried. “Everything is going according to plan, and then some!”

Orbot chimed in in his polite, metallic voice. “That is great news, boss. I am delighted that I was around to finally see the day in which one of your plans actually worked out, even if it was not really your plan.”

Eggman shot Orbot a glare that could have burned the skin off of a child if Eggman was even slightly intimidating. Orbot quickly went silent. Cubot, however, did not.

“Orbot’s right!” he cried out. “I don’t know about you guys, but I think that we should have a party to celebrate! We can invite Sonic, Amy, Metal Sonic, and maybe even that Infinite guy! Can you imagine Metal Sonic dancing? I bet he sucks at it! The only dance move he’d know how to do is the robot, which would really only serve to bolster the most common stereotypes that can be harmful against robots because-“

“WOULD YOU SHUT UP ALREADY,” shouted Eggman, cutting Cubot off by kicking him across the room. “There will be no party! And if there were to be a party, the only way Sonic would be there would be locked up in a nice little cage, built specially for him. Muahahahahahaha!”

“You must be referencing the plan that we are currently putting into motion, am I right boss?” Orbot asked.

_ This is it, _ Espio thought. _ They’re finally discussing their end goal. What does it have to do with locking Sonic up? Unless… _

“Of course I’m talking about the plan I concocted, completely on my own!” retorted Eggman. “But I am not explaining it again you nitwit, you should know what the plan is by now! I’ve only explained it to you eight times now!”

“I beg your pardon, boss,” Orbot replied, “but it was mostly Cubot who needed his points of confusion cleared up.”

Cubot seemed taken aback. “Why are you throwing me under the bus here, Orbot? I’m not the smartest robot in the fortress!”

“We know,” growled Eggman, pushing more buttons on his control panel. 

“And what of our friend, the mastermind?” Orbot asked. “Will she not be here to see the plan put into motion?”

Eggman groaned. “She may be diabolical, but she has nothing on me! While she is a strategist, I pour my heart and soul into my work!”

“I beg your pardon, sir,” Orbot replied. “But was this whole plan not her idea to begin with? It seems like something you’d want her around for, in case something goes-”

Eggman cut Orbot off. “This plan will go off without a hitch! And yes, while the basic idea may have been hers to begin with, it was I who created the meat of this plan. Were it not for my own intellect, we would not be standing here on this field of imminent victory!”

Espio’s head was spinning. Not only did Eggman have some sort of plan, but there was someone else involved too. If even Eggman acknowledged this person’s fiendishness, there was no telling what the plan may entail. Deeming it wise, Espio began to search for a secluded area nearby where he could report his findings to Vector. Before he had the chance to act, however, Eggman spoke again. 

“The final preparations are complete. Follow me as we put the final touches on our trump card. Our guests of honor should be arriving soon.”

Eggman stepped back into the elevator, followed by Orbot and Cubot. Thinking it wise, Espio silently dove in after them and pressed himself against the wall. Reporting in to Vector would have to wait if he could find out more details about Eggman’s plot. He noticed Eggman discreetly glance around the elevator, as if he had seen something move, but he made no indication that he had seen anything. 

_ This isn’t like Sonic’s house _ , he thought. _ If I mess up here and am spotted, I’m certainly done for. _

The elevator ground to a halt after what felt like decades. Eggman and his lackeys exited the elevator, followed by Espio. He found himself in a long, concrete -floored hallway, flanked on both sides with what looked to be containment cells. Each cell had a wall of pure energy that allowed someone to look inside, and they emitted an eerie blue glow. Eggman strolled down the corridor and stopped next to one of the cells, gazing in. Espio’s eyes widened as a familiar voice rang out from within. 

“Dr. Eggman? Where am I?”

The voice belonged to Rouge the Bat. 

The Doctor grinned as he surveyed the prisoner contained in the cell. Espio quickly shuffled to get a better look, and sure enough Rouge was contained in the cell, sunken to her arms and knees due to seemingly being drained of energy. She looked as though she had just awoken, not entirely sure where she was as she agitatedly whipped her head around to get a grip on her surroundings. 

“Welcome Rouge, to my brand new secret lair!” cried Eggman gleefully. 

“It’s not really much of a secret, boss,” Orbot pointed out. “Everyone in the city can see your face plastered on the side of it, even from miles away.”

Eggman chose to ignore his lackey and continued. 

“My little thief, witness my inescapable jail cells, each specifically tailored to the prisoner’s weakness! Muahahahaha!”

Rouge’s eyes were wide and frantic. Exerting as much energy as she could spare, she shot to her feet and reared back for a kick. When her leg connected with the shimmering blue cell wall, the impact was absorbed entirely. In fact, it seemed to make the cell’s wall shimmer even stronger. Eggman chuckled diabolically, followed by Orbot and Cubot who forced out a nervous laugh.

“Kinetic energy,” he told her. “That is the source of your power. This jail cell acts as a siphon of kinetic energy. Any time you attack it or even move at all, the cell gets stronger while you only get weaker. The perfect prison for Rouge the Bat!”

As Eggman gloated so hard that he pulled a muscle, Espio’s mind spun. He glanced around the room quickly. 

_ Ten cells _ , he thought, quickly counting five cells on each side of the hallway. _ Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Shadow, Rouge, Blaze…. And three for us. He intends to imprison us all. Strike out all opposition to his regime at the root. If all of us are imprisoned here, there will be nobody left to stop him. Or… will there? _

Suddenly, Espio’s ninja sense went haywire. Everything was coming together in his mind, and he knew he had only moments to escape. 

The intercom attached to his walkie talkie went off in his ear. He heard Charmy’s voice first. 

“Uh guys? Do you read me?” he said. 

Vector replied. “I hear ya Charmy. What’s up?”

Espio had never heard Charmy’s voice so serious. If he had actual skin, it would have been crawling. There was radio silence for a moment. Then Charmy spoke. 

“We need to get out of here right now.”

Espio stood with bated breath, watching Rouge struggle as Eggman stood over her, grinning. There was another moment of silence over the radio. Both he and Vector could tell something was very wrong. 

“Charmy?” asked Vector slowly. “What’s wrong? Why do we need to leave?”

Silence once again. Espio watched as Eggman stopped chuckling, his grin fading into a frown. He took a few cautious steps backwards towards the entrance. 

Finally, Charmy spoke. “I’m inside the base. The robots, they’re all… greenish.”

Espio had noticed this too. He had thought nothing of it at the time. Had Charmy learned something he did not?

“Eggman has the Chaos Emeralds,” Charmy continued. “Five of them. All his robots are feeding off their energy. And there’s so many of them. Being powered by five of the Emeralds, we stand no chance! Even Shadow wouldn’t be able to take them all on without help of his own. It’s way too dangerous for us.”

Espio began to back away. He was absolutely shaken. 

_ Eggman has five of the emeralds? And all of his robots were using them? If that’s the case, my suspicions have been correct all along. Eggman led us right into a trap. And if that was his plan, then…. _

Suddenly, Eggman spoke once again. “And, my dear little bat, there are ten cells in here, as you can see. One for each of your friends. Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Blaze, Vector, Charmy….”

His voice trailed off. Eggman slowly turned, a menacing snarl etched across his face. He faced Espio and pointed directly at him. 

“And one for our guest, the ninja, who happens to be in this room right now.”

The doors all slid shut with a loud clang. Espio was cut off from the elevator, his only escape route. There was a clap of thunder outside, followed by a flash of lightning that illuminated the Doctor’s silhouette against the window behind him. 

_ Ok, he has to be doing this weather thing deliberately, _ Espio thought. 

Eggman’s imposing form bared down on his him, as Orbot and Cubot flanked him on his left and right. 

“Espio!” Rouge cried out in a panic. “I don’t know if you are in here, but you have to escape! You need to warn the others! Find Shadow!"

“I know where you are,” Eggman snarled. “There’s no need to hide anymore.”

The jig was up, Espio knew. He felt stupid for not realizing sooner that the Doctor had infrared goggles that could make out his heat signature the whole time. Assuming a defensive stance, Espio turned visible again. He made direct eye contact with the doctor, who was advancing towards him. Eggman drew a firearm that looked akin to a toy one would buy at a supermarket and pointed it directly at Espio. Looking to his left and right, he saw that Orbot and Cubot had large nets and were slowly levitating towards him, clearly wary of what they knew the ninja could do. 

Espio examined the gun Eggman had. He was not dumb enough to believe that it was actually a toy, but he knew that Eggman needed him alive for some reason. Therefore, the gun would not fire lethal rounds. It was likely that it fired rounds meant to stun or paralyze. 

Keeping his breathing level, Espio eyed the room for a possible way out. He knew he could take the doctor, Orbot, and Cubot on without a problem, but then he would be trapped inside at the mercy of any Emerald-powered robot who intended to capture him. 

He decided to stall for time. “Eggman, why are you doing this? What do you need us for?”

Eggman rolled his eyes. “You know, for a detective you’re pretty stupid. Isn’t it obvious? With all my adversaries out of the way, I’d be free to conquer the world! Nobody would be able to stop me!”

As Eggman continued to move towards him, his suspicions were confirmed. Eggman was after world domination as usual. But that raised another question. 

“If you were just after world domination this entire time, why bother hiring us?” he asked. “We played no part in your plans. Or did we?”

Eggman suddenly stopped in his tracks, apparently taken aback. Then he grinned again. “You’re the detective. Why don’t you figure it out?”

He pointed the gun directly at Espio. The chameleon had a million things running through his mind, but only one possibility seemed correct. 

“You’re… actually jealous that Sonic isn’t spending more time trying to defeat you?”

“That’s right!” Cubot cried out. “Boss was so mad that Sonic was spending more time with his girlfriend than he was trying to stop boss’s plans, he hired you guys to stop him!”

Eggman chose instead to shoot Cubot, who spasmed due to the electrical impulse shot through his form and powered down. Orbot rushed to his aid amid giggles from Rouge. 

“I’ll have you ignore him,” Eggman said. “There no truth in his words. None at all! My plan revolved around Metal Sonic, as a matter of fact.”

Eggman turned the blaster back to Espio as another bolt of lightning flashed behind him, followed by a clap of thunder that shook the entire building. Thinking swiftly, Espio switched his radio into speaker mode so that Vector and Charmy could hear what the Doctor was saying. 

“As you know, I hired you a few days ago to ‘investigate’ Sonic and Amy. I knew you'd pay them a visit. Little did you know, laying in wait at their house was….. Metal Sonic!”

Eggman paused for Espio to react in astonishment. Espio, who was already well aware of this fact, raised his would-be eyebrows and gestured for Eggman to go on. Disappointed, the doctor continued. 

“That fool Sonic thought that he captured Metal Sonic on his own! As if. About a month ago, I sent Metal Sonic to provoke Sonic, and gave him the orders to lose on purpose. Thinking he had won, Sonic took my beautiful creation back to his house like the predictable, empathetic little pincushion he is. He had Tails drain most of Metal Sonic's energy out of him, and even more predictably, enlisted Tails to try to hack into his very base coding and convert him into their own ally! That nitwit Tails should have known that a creation as grand as Metal Sonic could not have its basic coding overwritten so easily. After a few days, Sonic realized he needed more help to keep Metal contained while Tails worked to find a way to hack into him. Little did they know, they were playing right into my scheme! As Amy and Knuckles lived with him, Metal Sonic copied all of their data, laying in wait for the opportune moment to strike. And the best part is, Metal Sonic was broadcasting all of this data right back to me! I knew everything they were doing the whole time. Nobody can hide from me, the great Dr. Eggman! But it doesn’t end there. A few days ago, I noticed that our favorite princess, Blaze, had attempted to infiltrate this base. I’ll admit she is a formidable adversary, but with 6 of the 7 Chaos Emeralds on my side there was no way I would have lost. I easily bested her in combat. She may have managed to escape from my custody with one of the emeralds, but her defiance will not go unpunished, rest assured. Metal Sonic successfully copied her power too, and now with the power of the Chaos Emerald and the powers of the rest of you, is unstoppable! Soon, he will capture them all and bring them here. After I have you three and and all of them, there will be nobody left to stop me! Well, almost nobody, but that will be dealt with… momentarily.”

Espio was struck by how simple Eggman’s plan was, but also how it had gone off without anyone realizing at was going on. He silently cursed his ignorance as he began to back away from Eggman. 

“Holy shit, that was wack!” Vector’s voice called back over the intercom. Eggman seemed startled to hear the crocodile’s seemingly disembodied voice. Espio silently cursed himself again for forgetting to switch his walkie off of speaker mode. 

Through the walkie talkie, Charmy gasped. “Vector you said a bad word!”

“Shaddap, Charmy!” Vector cried in reply. “Espio, you need to get outta there! I’m still waitin’ on the hillside by the car, and Charmy is hoverin’ above the base! We need to regroup at-”

Espio switched the walkie off before Vector could spill any more valuable intel. Eggman grinned. 

“So, your friends are here in the fortress with you?” he asked. “Well, that makes things that much easier. Orbot, tell the robots to attack!”

Orbot perked up and saluted, with Cubot now powered back on. “Aye aye, sir.”

_ Well, I guess we’re pretty screwed now_, thought Espio. 

****

High above the base, Charmy heard Espio’s line power off. 

“Vector?” he asked. “Why did Espio’s line shut off?”

Panicked, Vector yelled back through the walkie. “Ah crap. Charmy, you need to get out of there! The only way we could have heard what Eggman was saying would be if Espio had his walkie on speaker. He heard everythin’ we said! He knows exactly where you are!”

Before Charmy could respond, the robots below all raised their arms in unison. Beams of pure Chaos Energy sizzled through the air as they hurdled towards Charmy. Moving as deftly as he could, he managed to dodge most of the bolts headed in his direction. One of them grazed his arm. He cried out in pain as he dropped the walkie he was carrying, which shattered on the ground below. 

His vision began to blur and his heading began to waver as he attempted to dodge more of the energy bolts headed his way. The tingling in his arm began to spread as more stun bolts fired from below grazed him on his arms, legs, stinger, and antennae. He began to fly awry. He spiralled around in the sky above the base, facing away from the robots as he attempted to pass through the thick, electrified cables surrounding the base. Another beam struck him, this time more head on, knocking the bee off course and sending him careening straight into the wires. With a loud zap, Charmy felt an intense stinging sensation pass through his body. He spasmed and then fell limp, plunging down towards the army of robots below.

****

Vector was panicking. Watching the scene unfold through his binoculars, he saw Charmy strike the live cables and begin to plummet into the mob of armed robots below. With no radio contact between Espio, Vector, and Charmy, each of the three Chaotix members were left to fend for themselves. Turning his binoculars towards the main gate, Vector gasped sharply. The entryway had swung open with a loud crash and Eggman’s robotic lackeys were pouring out of the garrison, headed straight in his direction. 

Vector lowered his binoculars. His breathing slowed, he turned to look at his car nearby. Time seemed to stop as he was struck by an important revelation: of all the Chaotix, he was the only one with a real escape route. Vector had a chance to escape, regroup with Sonic and the others, and fight back against the havoc Eggman wrought. He turned back to the scene before him. Of course, running away would leave his two best friends at the mercy of Dr. Eggman and his legions. There was no telling what he may do to them. Was it worth resigning them to their fate while he turned tail and fled, Vector wondered. In this moment of indecision, his mind wandered to Espio, cornered by doctor with nowhere to run, and Charmy, falling to what could very well be his doom. He felt what they were feeling. Emotion welled up inside of him and threatened to overwhelm him. How could he, in good conscience, leave his two best friends to their fates while he absconded like a coward? He felt a pang of guilt for even considering leaving them behind. He was a Chaotix through and through. He lived as one, and was ready to die as one. 

He narrowed his eyes and straightened up to his full height. Towering over the horde of robots before him, he smirked and slammed his right fist into his left palm. 

“You got some nerve, Eggman,” he said to nobody in particular. “Time to kick some tail.”


	5. Pyrrhic Victory

“Let’s go, Omega!”

“ROGER, SHADOW.”

Vector was tearing his way through line after line of robots with his bare fists and teeth in a frenzy of desperation, dodging energy bolts and busting heads. They threatened to overwhelm him, but he endured. After reducing many robots around him to scrap, he heard the two familiar voices resonate behind him. A crushed robot still in his hand, he wheeled around to get a better look at the newcomers. A black blur shot by him on the left, followed by an explosion and glint of red metal on his right. Vector turned to follow the slower of the two and saw a large, black and red robot whip past him and mow down an entire line of robots ahead of him. A smaller figure appeared next to him in a flash, and in the wake of the blur left behind him, a line of several robots exploded simultaneously, their Chaos Energy drifting off of them and dissipating into the sky. There stood Shadow the Hedgehog and E-123 Omega, both facing away from him. 

“Shadow!” Vector cried out with glee. “And Omega too! Boy, am I glad to see you guys!”

“Vector,” grunted Shadow. “What’s the situation?”

“Espio an’ Charmy are trapped inside!” he replied, pointing to the base. “The robots are glowin’ with the power of five of the Chaos Emeralds!”

“Hmph,” said Shadow. “Finally, a challenge.”

Shadows eyes drifted around the base and settled on Charmy’s tiny form plummeting through the air. Vector was amazed that he could see something that small at all, but he wrote it off to Shadow being the Ultimate Life Form and thought nothing else of it. 

The Ultimate Life Form turned to his companion. “Omega, get me over there.”

He pointed at Charmy’s tiny form in the sky. Omega’s eyes shifted and narrowed. “SENSORS LOCKED ON UNCONSCIOUS APOIDEA. EJECTING SHADOW NOW.”

With a spin of his upper torso, Omega hoisted Shadow in one arm and threw him with precision accuracy. Shadow contorted his body and grabbed Charmy in midair, pulling him out of his free-fall. As he flew, Shadow curled up into a ball and turned so that the wind blew him into the cliffside at an angle, allowing him to gracefully roll off of it and land on the ground, unharmed. Vector breathed a sigh of relief as Shadow darted towards him, Charmy’s injured form in tow. Carelessly, Shadow dumped Charmy into the back of Vector’s car and turned to face the fight before him. 

“You guys need to get out of here,” he told Vector, observing the horde of robots rapidly approaching their location. “We will handle things here.” 

With that, he darted forward to join Omega in battle. 

****

Espio stumbled backwards. Examining the room, he could see only one possible escape route, but he knew it would be a move of suicide. Outside the window, a barrage of energy bolts flew into the sky from below. He could only hope that none of them struck Charmy. 

Eggman laughed maniacally as he watched the scene unfold outside the window. Orbot and Cubot joined him, laughing flatly and half-heartedly. Espio almost felt bad for them. He searched desperately for another way out. The only good escape route was sealed behind a thick wall of metal, and the walls were nearly impenetrable, save for the window. 

Espio and Rouge made eye contact. She knew exactly what he was thinking, and nodded in approval. Espio wished he could break her out of her cell, but he knew that if he made a move to even try he would end up locked in the cell right next to hers. 

Before Eggman could turn back around, Espio ducked and curled into a ball, revving up a spin dash. 

“Oh no!” Eggman cried. He wheeled around upon hearing the painfully familiar drilling noise and narrowly dove away in time for Espio to shoot past him, cleanly shattering the window as he shot out into the roaring thunderstorm outside. 

He immediately felt the pelting rain, coupled with a roaring wind. The cold, moist air bit at his scaly exterior, but the air was refreshingly crisp compared to inside the base. That is, until he began to fall. As he fell, he noticed that the robots below him had stopped firing. 

_ At least Charmy is safe, _he thought. _ Now to bail myself out of this mess. _

As he rapidly approached the ground, Espio’s form shimmered as he became invisible. He knew he’d have to time the landing perfectly or the robots below would be the least of his worries. He spun slowly as he fell, crouched into a fetal position as he waited for the opportune moment. When he was moments from impact, he knew the time was right. With a powerful thrust from his legs, he pushed forward off the building and curled back into a ball as he braced for impact. He hit the ground heavily and rolled forward, crashing through a crowd of nearby robots and scattering them like bowling pins. As Espio was invisible, the robots were unable to pinpoint the source of the commotion. Espio, however, kept lurching forward at an uncontrollable velocity, trying without avail to steer himself towards the exit. He was unable to see where he was going very well, but curling into ball was an innate ability for him and many others like him. He had long since learned to steer himself. Speed on this level, however, was something he had never attempted to figure out. The momentum of his falling translated into his ground speed and he showed no signs of slowing down as he barreled towards the outer wall and crashed with a resounding thud. Momentarily stunned, he turned visible again and slumped back against the sizeable dent he had left. There were practically actual stars spinning around his head. He blinked repeatedly, his mind cloudy. There was a dull yellow gleam in front of him as well as the clanking of heavy, robotic footsteps approaching, but he could not focus enough to consider what that meant. He could only feel his consciousness fade as he was hoisted into the air by a pair of cold, metallic hands and carried away. 

********

Espio awoke abruptly and shot to his feet. He had recalled being dragged away by a robot who he could only have imagined to be one of Eggman’s mechs. If that were the case, he’d be locked up, but as he looked around he found himself somewhere he knew well. 

“The agency?” he asked nobody in particular. 

“Espio, you’re awake!” a high pitched voice cried out. Immediately, Charmy flew out of a dark corner and latched onto his face, just as he had done to Sonic the previous day. If Espio was surprised in the slightest, he did not show it. 

“Yeah, I’m up now,” he said, tearing Charmy off his face. The first thing he noticed about his friend was that he was not wearing his helmet, something he was rarely seen without. Even after knowing Charmy for years, it still felt weird to see his bare head. Now that he had a better look at the bee, he noticed that his friend had numerous bandages covering his tiny form, two on his arms, one on his leg, one across his chest, and one on his left antenna, with a small adhesive bandage on his face displaying a cartoony design of Big the Cat on it. The guy really was a celebrity. 

As he examined his friend's face, Espio recalled the hail of energy bolts he had seen earlier flying into the sky to shoot Charmy down. He felt relieved to see Charmy's injuries were minor. 

“You like my bandaid?” Charmy asked, noticing Espio’s eyes wandering. “It’s got Big on it! Vector gave it to me.”

“I can see that,” Espio replied, gently pushing Charmy aside as he looked around the dark room. “Where is Vector anyway? I have crucial information I need to share with him.”

The curtains were drawn in the detective agency, and all the lights were off. Dull rays of sunshine peeked through the cracks between the shades, forming small bands of light that stretched across the room and illuminated dust floating in the air in their trail. Everything was still, with the exception of Charmy, who was practically vibrating with excitement. 

“Come to think of it, how did I end up here?” Espio continued. “Last thing I remember, I was being carried off by one of Eggman’s robots. The ones with the Chaos energy. I thought I saw a weird glow coming off of it.”

Charmy did a backflip in midair and gave Espio a thumbs up. “You got lucky! Shadow and Omega showed up at just the right time! They're so cool. Shadow saved me, so the robot you saw must have been Omega! His eyes were probably glowing, so you musta saw that. Guess he was in the right place at the right time, huh?”

That made sense to Espio. He shrugged and made a mental note to thank Omega next time he saw him, even if the robot did not care for his gratitude in the slightest. 

“So where are they now?” Espio asked. “And you still haven’t told me where Vector is."

Charmy shrugged. “I dunno where Shadow and Omega went. I was out cold until after we had left. Vector brought us here, drew the shades shut, and then said he was heading out to check on Sonic and Amy. He told me to stay put until he gets back.”

Espio plopped himself back down onto the sofa. He suddenly felt extremely lethargic. Learning about Eggman’s newest heinous plot, the disappearance of his friends, and his own injuries were beginning to take their toll. As much as Espio wanted to be following up on the case with Vector, his intuition told him that he was in no state to be fighting, or to be going anywhere for that matter. And as a ninja, intuition, coupled with logic and reason, were not things he could easily ignore. 

“He’s right,” Espio told Charmy. “We should rest until he gets back. We’ll need all the energy we can spare for the battle that’s ahead of us.”

****

The afternoon sun beat down on Vector as he approached Amy Rose’s house. He never had the chance to formally unveil his masterful disguise at Eggman’s base, so he was wearing it now. It was a black leather coat and a pair of sunglasses, in which Vector was confident nobody would be able to recognize him. Simple, yet effective.

His thoughts kept wandering to the incident earlier in the day. Had it not been for his own incompetence, neither Espio nor Charmy would have gotten hurt. Vector wanted to formally apologize to them the next time he saw them, and he was already formulating the most heartfelt words he could muster in his head to rehearse what he would say. 

He shook his head as he approached the house. The bright glare from the sun caused Vector to shield his eyes as he looked it up and down. Once his eyes started to get used to the glare, he was able to take a closer look at the dwelling. He stood in it’s shadow, however the building was relatively small, only built to house a maximum of two people. It was simply constructed, being made of concrete and wood, with a brick chimney cutting through the side and protruding from the domed ceiling. It was about as tall as it was wide, being about two stories high, not counting the basement. Vector found it to be extremely cozy looking, despite the fact that it seemed to be falling into disrepair. There were some small holes in the ceiling that could use patching up. 

_ What? _ he thought. _ Those weren’t there yesterday, were they? _

Worried, he rushed towards the house. He made to knock on the door but found that it hung ajar. Examining the lock on the door more closely revealed traces of tampering. He tried to turn the locking mechanism, but after a few moments of silence it slowly slid back into an unlocked position, as if being pulled by a weak rubber band. Knowing the signs from experience, Vector could tell that this was no accidental breakage. Remembering the security system Sonic and Knuckles had in place, he knew something was amiss. He recalled Eggman’s words he'd heard over the walkie about how Metal Sonic was out to capture and imprison the residents here. Fearing the worst, Vector kicked the door in and charged inside. 

He instantly noticed signs of a struggle. Amy would never leave her house in such a state of disarray, even if she was going out. Furniture was flipped over, various household items and appliances littered the floor, flower pots were tipped, and more. There was nobody to be seen. Through the ambient noise of chirping cicadas outside, Vector thought he heard a tiny whimper from somewhere nearby. Alarmed, he glanced around to locate the source. In the corner of the room was a small figure, hiding under the table with her hands buried in her hands. 

Vector decided to approach gently. With soft footsteps, he crouched down to bring himself to eye level with the little girl under the table. He made sure there was a reassuring smile that could be seen in his eyes etched on his face as he reached out and said hello. 

The girl’s head whipped up abruptly. It was none other than Cream the Rabbit, which is an extremely unexpected plot development. 

With tears still streaming down her face, Cream blinked a few times as gazed quizzically at Vector’s face, still hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. 

She tilted her head. “Excuse me mister, do I know you?”

Vector felt a surge of pride at how robust he knew his disguise to be. In one swift motion, he removed the jacket and sunglasses. 

“Hey Cream,” he said gently. “It’s me, Vector. What happened here?”

As if he had flipped a switch, Cream started sobbing and dove into Vector’s outstretched arms. She buried her face in the crook of his scaly elbow and let the tears flow. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked her, looking down at her with concern. They were still crouched beneath the table, which was a very tight fit for Vector. He made a move to try to pull Cream out, but she was kneeling in Vector’s arms and he was not about to drag her out in this state. 

Cream spoke between sobs. “Mister Vector, it was horrible. I came to surprise visit Amy and Mister Sonic this morning, but when I got here, Metal Sonic was hiding in the basement. Miss Blaze and Mister Knuckles showed up to fight too, but Metal Sonic had some strange power and he defeated all four of them! It was so scary!”

Vector put his large, comforting hand on Cream’s back as she sobbed. He began to picture the scenario in his head. He could only imagine how terrifying that must have been for a child. He knew Cream and Metal Sonic were no strangers to one another, but for her to have seen such an intimidating robot towering over her, practically sizzling with power, whilst prevailing over some of the people she considered to be the strongest in the world, must have been a traumatizing experience. 

The croc felt he knew Cream well, almost like an uncle figure to her. Vanilla would often leave her in the care of the detectives while she had other business to attend to. The team was not exactly famous for being constantly inundated with cases, so they found themselves babysitting in their free time. Vector wished he had it in him to ask Vanilla for babysitting compensation, but he always had a soft spot for her. Despite being extremely money-driven, he was never able to turn a blind eye to someone in need. 

And thus, Cream became a member of their weird, dysfunctional family. Vector would pick her up from school, Espio would teach her about the values of discipline, and Charmy was an ideal playmate for her. The thought of it brought a tear to Vector’s eye as he reminisced on days past. Chilly autumn days and hazy summer afternoons would take him back to the time the four of them spent together at their old office, lazing around waiting for their next case to come knocking at their door, nothing to disturb them except the sound of Charmy’s dismayed screams when Cream would find him when playing hide and seek. Vector was not entirely sure what Vanilla got up to in her spare time, but he assumed that she worked extra hours at her job in order to pay the bills. The team never pried into her personal life, and she was never one to brag about it. They only wanted to help her and support her daughter in whatever way they could.

Feeling an overwhelming sense of nostalgia as he felt the one person he’s ever felt some sort of fatherly emotion towards crying into his arms, he rubbed her back as gently as he physically could and reassured her that she was safe now. 

His mind wandered to the scene that had unfolded in the house, and he recalled what Eggman had inadvertently revealed to them about his newest plan. 

_ So Metal Sonic was the key after all. He’s trying to draw all of us into a trap, but the trap isn’t laid out at Eggman’s base. Metal Sonic himself is the trap,and now he’s after all of us. It’s obvious that Eggman is after his usual world domination scheme, but a plan of this caliber is way above his pay grade. There has to be someone else involved in this. The question is, who? _

Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, and Blaze had all been defeated in what he pictured to have been a pretty epic fight. It was safe to assume that Tails had been taken from his workshop in a similar manner, but Vector would have to confirm that with his own eyes. He also recalled Eggman’s words regarding the Chaos Emeralds. 

_ He already had six of the Emeralds before Blaze stole one, which brought him down to five. Tails had the last one. If both Blaze and Tails have been taken, that would mean Eggman has all the emeralds, unless one of them hid theirs. And even if they had, Eggman would have found them by now without any trouble. He undoubtedly has all seven emeralds by now. Who is left that we can turn to? _

He sorted through all his friends one by one who may be powerful enough to stop Eggman. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Blaze, and Rouge could do nothing while locked in those cells, he knew. And with the might of all seven Emeralds, Shadow and Omega were likely locked in there with them. Was there nobody left?  
Then it dawned on Vector, and all the blood drained from his face. There were still those left who could fight back against Eggman and Metal Sonic, who had before, and most certainly would. A team with the most unlikely combination possible that always made it work. A team that would heed a call to action with a heavy sense of duty. A team powerful enough to topple Eggman’s power play, and the only team who would be able to. Team Chaotix. 

A small tear formed in the corner of his eye as he swelled with pride and anticipation. He and his teammates were the only ones left who could win, the one hope that the world had left to escape Eggman’s iron fisted rule. And in the face of adversity, Vector only became stronger. 

With new sense of purpose, he pulled away from Cream and held her at arm’s length, his hands on her shoulders. She rubbed her eyes with her knuckles, still whimpering as she began to calm down. 

Vector looked around. “Where’s Cheese?”

“Oh no, Cheese!” Cream exclaimed. Seeming to have forgotten all about her defeated friends, she charged into the basement. Vector raced after her. The rabbit hopped back to the small room in the corner and tore the door open. 

“Cheese!” she cried into the darkness. “Cheese, are you in here?”

“Chao chao?” a meek voice softly called out after a moment. 

Cream let out a sigh of relief. “Cheese, it’s safe to come out. Metal Sonic is gone, and Mister Vector is here to protect us now.”

After a few more moments of silence, Cheese the Chao gently levitated out towards Cream, who pulled her friend into a tight hug. 

“Oh Cheese, that was so scary,” she told him. “You were so brave against Metal Sonic, too!”

Vector was taken aback. “Wait, you guys actually fought Metal Sonic?”

Cream released Cheese and turned around to face Vector, who was standing behind her. 

“Um, not quite,” Cream told him, a confused expression etched onto her face. “I was hiding down here while everyone battled upstairs, but then it suddenly got quiet. And Metal Sonic came down the stairs and saw me. I was so scared, I couldn’t even move! Miss Amy had told me to go and hide if they lost, but I couldn’t even bring myself to do that”

Cream looked as though she was on the verge of tears again. But she continued. 

“He saw me and walked over to me slowly. Cheese was so brave. Even though I couldn’t move, Cheese flew out between us and told Metal Sonic to go away! He was so cool. But Metal Sonic just picked him up and threw him into the closet over here. I was so worried about him. After he did that he turned back to me, but he didn’t do anything. He just stood there, looking at me. I know he’s a robot, but I could tell he felt something. He seemed… sad. And confused. My heart was pounding, but after that, he just turned and walked away. He didn’t even touch me. When I was finally brave enough to move again, I went back upstairs to make sure everyone was alright, but Metal Sonic took them all! Amy, Mister Sonic, Mister Knuckles, Miss Blaze….”

Cream trailed off. She was barely holding back tears. 

Vector placed his large hand on her head and smiled at her. She looked up at him, her eyes wide. 

“You were really brave, Cream. You got some great intel for us too, so great job!”

An ecstatic expression spread onto Cream’s face. Vector smiled back at her. He could not help but wonder why Metal Sonic did not attack Cream. He thought back to what Eggman had said and recalled that there was no cell prepared for her. The reasonable deduction was that Metal Sonic had only been programmed to attack those who had cells prepared for them. To him, everyone who he was not specifically ordered to attack was unnecessary. 

“Um, Mister Vector,” began Cream. “There’s something-”

Vector held up a finger to silence her. He was deep in thought and did not want to be distracted. 

“We can’t dilly-dally around here talkin’ all day,” he soon told her. “Metal Sonic could come back. We need to get back to the agency.”

Cream nodded and followed Vector as they and Cheese hastily exited the ravaged building. 


	6. Twin-Tailed Terror

Tails awoke abruptly. His head felt as though it was made of lead. When he tried to lift it up, it felt more like he had taken a brick to his noggin. He closed his eyes in agony. What had happened? 

He thought back to the last thing he remembered. He had been working on his latest invention of unspecified function when there was a weird noise outside. When he went to investigate, he was ambushed by-

_ Metal Sonic? _

His eyes shot open, the pain momentarily forgotten. Hoisting his head up, he glanced around. His vision was still hazy, but he was able to make out that he was in a hallway of some sort, one with a hard concrete floor. He saw to his left and right a row of what looked to be glowing blue squares. Directly in front of him were a pair of robotic, red shoes. 

_ Oh nuts_, he thought. 

Tails felt himself being hoisted up by the scruff of his neck and turned around. The touch of cold steel stung against the skin under his fur, but he paid it no mind. When his vision cleared, he became overwhelmed with dread at the scene in front of him. 

Dr. Eggman mirthfully stood over him, grinning as he surveyed the fox in front of him. Behind him was what appeared to be a window with a large swath of silver duct tape in the middle, presumably from being shattered, and Orbot and Cubot hovered near it. Looking to his left, he felt a pang of dread shoot through his chest. There, in what appeared to be a cell made of energy, was his best friend Sonic the Hedgehog. 

“Welcome, Tails,” Eggman announced, opening his arms. “Welcome to your new home.”

“Eggman!” replied Tails quietly. “What… what is this? What are you doing this time?”

Eggman chuckled heartily. “Oh, fox boy. It’s not what I’m doing, but what I’ve already done! Look around you! There is nobody left to stop my now!”

Tails glanced around the room. He saw Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Blaze, Shadow, and Rouge all trapped behind a wall of energy, seemingly sapped of all their energy. 

Horrified, Tails turned back to his captor. “What have you done?”

“It’s quite simple, really,” Eggman told him, not wanting to miss a chance to gloat. “But before I fill you in on the details…”

He pointed above Tails to someone behind him. 

“Metal Sonic, lock him up!” Eggman cried. 

Without a peep from Metal Sonic, who Tails assumed to be carrying him, Tails felt himself being moved. He tried to spin his tails to escape, but he could barely move a muscle, let alone muster up the strength to fly. 

The wall of energy in front of Tails disappeared for a moment as he was unceremoniously chucked inside, and then the wall reformed. An instant later, he felt a tingling sensation around his tails. Kneeling on all fours, Tails craned his neck around to look. His twin tails were glittering with some blue-ish energy, which crackled around them like small bolts of lightning. Before his startled eyes, the energy shifted to the area between his tails and attracted them together like magnets. Suddenly, he could scarcely move them at all, as if they were being paralyzed by some external force. Putting two and two together, Tails finally managed to deduce some of Eggman’s scheme. 

“These cells are each tailored to our individual weaknesses,” he observed, almost impressed by the sheer mechanics of it. “But, how?”

“Don’t think about it too much, Tails,” Eggman sneered. “This level of science is way out of the league of your puny intellect.”

Eggman spent about an entire minute cackling. Orbot and Cubot flatly and half-heartedly laughed with him. Tails was exasperated. 

Finally, the Doctor continued. “As you can see, I’ve captured all of your friends! All of them are in their own cages, each tailor made to contain them. Yours could not hold any of the others for a second, but you will never be able to escape! With nobody in my way, I can finally conquer the world using the ultimate weapon, Metal Sonic! Ahahahahaha!”

Tails glanced over at Metal Sonic, who was standing perfectly still right next to Eggman and glaring at him. His cold, emotionless eyes chilled Tails to the core. 

_ I couldn’t come up with the code to break him on time,_ Tails realized. _ If I had finished that earlier, maybe we could have avoided this. Agh, if only I didn’t so much time working to harness the Chaos Energy in that blaster I was working- _

The color drained from Tails' face. The Chaos Emerald. It was definitely in his lab when Metal Sonic had broken in. Eggman must have it now. 

_ There’s no telling how many others he has, but once he leaves we can piece together the information and figure it out. Then we can think of a counter attack! _

Eggman noticed the look on Tails’ face and grinned maniacally. “Thinking of trying to escape, Tails?”

The fox looked back up at Eggman, startled that the doctor knew what he was thinking. 

“I wouldn’t bother trying,” Eggman said, turning to address everyone there. “The robots outside are all being powered by the power of five Chaos Emeralds. Even with all of you, you cannot hope to stop an army of emerald-powered robots. And now that I have you all here… All seven emeralds are mine!”

Tails gasped. Without turning around, Eggman held his hand out to his side in front of Metal Sonic. 

“Give me the emeralds you collected.”

Metal Sonic did not move for a moment. He simply observed Eggman’s outstretched hand in unnerving silence. Everyone in the room waited with bated breath for Metal Sonic’s next action. Then he moved. In one fluid motion, the robot reached into an unknown orifice in his back and procured a single red Chaos Emerald. He gingerly placed it into Eggman’s outstretched hand without a word. 

Eggman did a double take at the single emerald in his hand. His face contorted with rage. 

“Metal Sonic,” he said, his voice quivering with rage. “I believe I ordered two Chaos Emeralds from you.”

The robot said nothing and stared blankly back into Eggman’s eyes. 

“If my count is correct,” he continued, “which is always is, there is only one Chaos Emerald in my hand right now. Do you see what's wrong with this picture? ”

Metal Sonic did not say a word or even twitch. If it weren’t for his eyes being lit up, Tails would be unsure if he was even powered on. 

“Where is the other Chaos Emerald, Metal Sonic?” the doctor finished, his staring contest with the robotic Sonic not letting up. 

After what felt like an eternity of silence, Metal Sonic issued a series of beeps in what Tails knew to be morse code. Eggman’s eyes widened. 

“THERE WAS NO EMERALD?” he roared. “THE EMERALD HAD TO HAVE BEEN THERE. Unless…”

The fires of wrath burning in his eyes, Eggman wheeled to face Blaze, who sat huddled in the center of her cell with frost forming all over her body. Her cell seemed to act as a freezer, regulating Blaze’s temperature so she could not harness her pyrokinetic energy. 

“Where did you leave the last emerald?” Eggman growled at her, advancing with his back arched. 

Blaze feebly looked up at the doctor, her teeth clattering. Her eyes bore an expression of extreme pain. 

“Eggman…” Blaze murmured. “The emerald… I don’t… know what happened… to it…”

“Lies!” Eggman cried in reply. “You brought it with you to Sonic’s house! If you won’t talk, maybe I’ll turn down the temperature in there a little.”

Blaze’s eyes widened. “I swear… I have no idea…. And even if I did… You really think I’d tell you…?”

Eggman stomped his foot. “Tell me where it is!”

“...Eat my ass.”

He wheeled to his right and pointed at Amy’s cell, directly next to Blaze's. 

“You,” he snarled. “It was your house. You must have seen it.”

Amy was bound at her hands and feet by bands of pure energy, which were in turn bound closely to the ground. The most she could manage was a kneel with her hands tied behind her back. She still donned her pajamas with images of Sonic’s face on them, now tattered and torn after the scuffle. She glared at Eggman, but the most she could manage was a muffled grunt, since she was also gagged. The doctor chuckled. 

“Oh right,” he jeered. “I forgot I tied your mouth shut, since I hate your voice. Just nod if you know where it and shake your head if you don’t.”

Amy shuffled around so Eggman was behind her and flipped him off with her wrists still bound. Eggman coughed in surprise and turned to face Knuckles, who was in the cell across from Blaze. 

“How about you, guardian of the Master Emerald?” Eggman interrogated. “You didn’t happen to see a Chaos Emerald there, did you?”

The walls in Knuckles’ cell were made of shock absorbers. Any punch Knuckles threw was immediately absorbed by the rubber-like material that was thickly coating the cell, and sent a ripping shockwave back down his arm whenever he attempted to do so. He was really pissed off. 

“Ask Amy again,” the red Echidna growled. “She’ll answer for me.” 

Eggman turned to face Amy, who flipped him off once again. 

“Well, how about you Shadow?” Eggman said, unfazed as he turned to the cell immediately adjacent to Blaze’s. After a moment of silence, he started to chortle. 

“That’s okay, you don’t have to answer, what with being back in stasis and all!”

Tails craned his head to see into the cell that Shadow was presumably being held. A large metallic canister was sitting in the middle of the cell, with Shadow’s head poking out of the top covered by a glass dome. His eyes were closed tightly, and he looked to be sleeping peacefully. Tails knew he would not be waking up any time soon if the doctor had his way. 

Another familiar voice rang out of the cell directly across from Shadow’s. Tails recognized the voice as belonging to Rouge the Bat. 

“Where’s Omega, you asshole?” she spat. Eggman turned to face her and continued to mirthfully chortle. 

“I’m glad you asked, my little thief,” replied Eggman. “Man, it’s so nice when someone asks you what you were about to say anyway! Makes the transition a whole lot easier. To answer your question Rouge, E-123 has been taken back to my lab. There I will change his coding at the very base and transform him back into the obedient weapon he was meant to be.”

Rouge gasped. “How could you!”

Eggman gestured to Metal Sonic, still standing perfectly still behind him. “One Chaos-powered death robot seems to be working pretty well for me. Imagine what I could do with two. Which reminds me…”

Eggman turned to the cell immediately adjacent to Rouge, right between her and Tails. Tails could not currently see who was contained within, but earlier on, he had seen Sonic in there, seemingly in immense pain. Worried, Tails wondered what kind of contraption Eggman had built that could put him in such a state. 

“I wouldn’t move, Sonic,” Eggman stated. “If you move even the slightest bit, you’ll be electrocuted until you can’t move again! Perfect for a hedgehog who can never stop moving! If you won’t stop running on your own, I’ll force you to.”

There was a raucous crackle from the cell to his left. Tails instantly recognized it as the sound of electricity coursing. Sonic must have attempted to move. He saw Amy’s eyes widen in rage as she attempted to violently shake her bonds free, but to no avail. 

Tails felt a pang of guilt. He knew that Sonic was tenacious enough to handle the pain, but the thought of it created what felt like a pit in his stomach. _ Nobody would be here right now if I’d completed my code on time. We could have overwritten Metal Sonic’s code days ago if I had been ready. This is all my fault. Maybe we should have just dismantled Metal Sonic when we had the chance. _

Tails’ heart shot into his throat. He had stolen a glance at Metal Sonic, but to his alarm, the robot’s eyes were focused directly on him. They threatened to sear a hole directly through him. But as Tails gazed into Metal Sonic’s sinister eyes, he saw something else buried under the flat, robotic glare. Something that shouldn’t have been there. He stared for a moment, puzzled. Robots shouldn’t be able to show any emotion. Even good ones, like Omega. So what could that that look in Metal’s eyes be?

The revelation hit Tails like an Amtrak train. 

It was sadness. 

As the crackling next to him subsided, Eggman’s grin transformed into a frown. “Well, if none of the others would tell me then I’d be a fool to think you would, my old nemesis.”

The doctor turned back to his robotic creation, whose head snapped forward again to face his creator. 

“Find that last emerald, Metal Sonic,” Eggman told him. “That is an order. Now go.”

Metal Sonic remained stationary for a moment once again before issuing a single robot beep in acknowledgement. Without another sound, he strode into the elevator at the end of the hallway. The doors slid shut behind him. 

Eggman turned back to face his former adversaries. He began to chuckle, which became a laugh, which transitioned into a hearty evil chortle. Once again, Orbot and Cubot laughed along with him. 

“Nobody can stop me now!” he cried, raising his hands above his head as he whooped in excitement. “With all my adversaries off the table, once all the Chaos Emeralds are mine I will be invincible!”

Tails could not help but speak up. 

“Eggman?” he asked, a little bit of the life having returned to his voice. Eggman wheeled to face the twin-tailed fox, who stood up shakily. His bound tail rested limply on the ground. 

“I couldn’t help but notice there are three empty cells in this room,” Tails continued. “If you tailor made each cell to fit one of the people who can stop you, doesn’t that mean there are three more people out there who are capable of bringing you down?”

Everyone seemed to perk up with hope upon hearing Tails’ observation. Everyone except for Eggman, who clenched his fists and snarled. 

“Vector and his rabble no longer pose any threat to me,” he muttered, loud enough that Tails could hear him. “And if they dare to try, their fate will be no different than yours."

Eggman turned to his robotic lackeys. "Orbot! Cubot! Stand guard over the prisoners." 

With that, he stormed out of the room. Or he would have if he did not have to wait for the elevator to arrive, which made his exit far less dramatic. Once the elevator arrived, he strode in, the metal doors clanking shut behind him. 


	7. The Disquieting Enigma

Evening was descending on the city as two figures approached the Chaotix Detective Agency. Their long shadows cast onto the sidewalk in front of them, a stark contrast to where the bright sun’s rays had shone a moment before. Despite the sun setting, both figures wore sunglasses and black, leather jackets. The shorter figure’s ears flopped around limply in the light breeze, while the other’s snout extended well beyond the reach of his arm. For a moment, they stood outside of the agency and surveyed the building. The evening sun glinted off of the newly printed sign that read “Chaotix Detective Agency,” creating a blinding glare for those foolish enough to look upon it directly without donning a pair of sunglasses. Luckily for the two figures, both of them were not only donning their protective eyewear, they were absolutely slaying it. They had etched across their face a frown so tough that even the edgiest of hedgehogs would think twice before placing themselves in their path. 

After gazing at the agency for a few moments, the duo entered the building as if it were the lottery. A tall, yellow leporidae greeted them at the door. She was seated behind the receptionist’s desk, reading a book. When the duo entered, the placed the book face-down on the table to save her spot. 

“Welcome to the Chaotix Detective Agency,” Vanilla enthusiastically declared. “Are you here to schedule an appointment?”

Without a word, the aberrant pair approached the counter, not letting the frowns face off their faces for a moment. The rabbit observed them apprehensively as they approached, reaching under the table for an unknown object. When the two finally made it to the desk, the taller one placed both of his palms on the counter. The receptionist pulled back. 

“Who are you guys?” she demanded. 

The two figures maintained their facade for only a moment more before they broke out in hearty guffaws. The taller figure lifted up his sunglasses, revealing none other than Vector the Crocodile. The smaller one did the same to reveal Cream the Rabbit. Cheese the Chao hovered out of her jacket pocket, snickering. Shocking, I know. 

“Hey Vanilla!” Vector yakked. “Ya miss us?”

“Hee hee,” Cream laughed, using her ears to float on top of the desk. “I can’t believe these disguises worked, Mister Vector!”

“Ya can’t go wrong with the classic shades n’ a leather jacket! We’re bein’ hunted now, Cream, we can’t just go out in broad daylight without a good disguise.”

Vanilla looked dumbfounded. “Vector? Wha- How?”

Vector grinned. “Nobody can see through my ironclad disguises. I’m just the best there is!”

"That's not-" 

Vanilla caught herself and turned her gaze back to Cream, who was still jubilantly standing on the counter. Instead of laughing along with her, Vanilla frowned a little bit. 

“Please get off the counter,” she told her daughter. “It’s rude to stand on tables, you know.”

Cream was contrite. “Oh no! I’ll get down! I’m so sorry mom, and Mister Vector too.”

As she clambored off the desk, Vanilla turned to Vector, a look of surprise still etched onto her face. “What are you doing here, Vector?”

Vector seemed taken aback. “Whaddaya mean, what am I doin’ here? I live here, remember? Espio and Charmy are upstairs right now!”

Vanilla raised her eyebrows. “Really? I didn’t even notice!”

Vector nodded forlornly. “We got back pretty late last night. We were investigatin’ Eggman’s lair, but things went south. Espio and Charmy got hurt, so I dropped ‘em off and headed back out to follow up on some leads. We’re tryin’ to keep our presence on the down-low though, Eggman’s tryin’ really hard to find us.”

“Oh no!” Vanilla replied, a look of worry seeping onto her face. “What happened? Is everyone alright?”

Vector looked at the ground. “It’s all my fault they got hurt. I’m actually workin’ up the courage to go upstairs and apologize to ‘em myself, if you’re wonderin’ why I’m stallin' by chattin’ your ears off.”

Vector guffawed. Cream and Cheese chortled heartily too. Vanilla forced out a half-hearted laugh. 

“Anyway, that’s what’s goin’ on,” he finally stated. “I gotta head upstairs, but do me a favor Vanilla. If anyone comes in asking for us, even for a legitimate case, don’t let ‘em in.”

“I will let you know when I am about to sign off for the night,” she told him. 

Vector gave her a thumbs up and ambled up the stairs, followed closely by Cream and Cheese. She watched them until the turned the corner of the staircase a few steps up, and once they were out of sight, she let out a sigh. 

_ I hope Cream will be alright tagging along with them,_ she thought. 

****

A gentle knock on the door woke Espio up with a start. He immediately shot to his feet and surveyed the room. There was no immediate danger. He cautiously approached the door and glanced through the peephole. On the other side, he saw Vector’s face, flanked by Cream and Cheese. He released a small sigh of relief, but felt he could not be too careful. 

“Password?” he asked out loud. Espio, Vector, and Charmy had agreed on a passphrase at their old office, which did not have a peephole. This was used as an added security measure in times of uncertainty. Even though Espio could clearly see that Vector was on the other side, he wanted to ensure it was not an imposter. After a moment of silence, Vector’s muffled voice rang out through the wooden door. “Plasmodiophoraceae.”

Espio unlocked the door and swung it open. Vector bounded into the room and pulled Cream along behind him, quickly slamming the door and bolting it shut. 

“Can we change that password?” grumbled Vector.

“Too fungal for you?” Espio asked. 

Vector rolled his eyes. “Yeah, it’s totally the meanin’ of it that makes it a dumb password.”

“Hello Mister Espio,” Cream said, waving at Espio. He nodded back curtly. 

Vector glanced around the room. “Where’s Charmy?”

The sound of a toilet flush sounded from another door in the corner of the room. Moments later, Charmy walked out on his feet, carrying a newspaper under his arm. 

“Evenin', boss,” he said nonchalantly, tossing the newspaper aside. 

Vector wasted no time. “Are ya’ both okay?”

Espio nodded. Charmy buzzed into the air and gave an enthusiastic thumbs up, doing a backflip in mid air afterwards. “Never been better!”

There were still bandages wrapped around Charmy's body, however he did not seem encumbered by them in the slightest. Although they were only minor injuries, Vector was impressed at how fast they had healed. 

The Chaotix leader walked into the center of the room and addressed everyone. 

“Sit down guys,” he told them all. “We’re havin’ an agency meetin’!”

“Oh boy, a meeting!” Charmy cried, buzzing onto the couch. Espio plopped down next to him without a word, snacking on a bag of veggie sticks that had been left on a small table next to the chair. 

Vector glanced over to Cream. She seemed taken aback.

“I’m in the meeting too?” she asked. 

“Of course,” Vector responded. “You’re just as invested in this as the rest of us now. We’ll need a debrief from ya’!”

And the sound of the word debrief, which Cream thought sounded extremely cool and professional, she happily took a seat between Espio and Charmy. Cheese laid on his belly on top of Espio’s head, and Espio casually held a veggie stick above his head for Cheese to chow down on. 

Amidst the crunching of the veggie sticks that were now being shared by everyone sitting down, Vector began to speak.

“Alright guys,” he orated. “A lot has happened in the past day, and we’re in desperate need of an info exchange. But first….”

He trailed off, unsure what to say. The four figures before him looked on in anticipation. He decided to wing it and hope it went well. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. 

“L-listen guys,” he began, addressing Espio and Charmy. “About last night… That was totally my fault an’ all, you know? I mean, I led you guys there. And after that, I was the one who sent you guys in while I sat back an’ twiddled my thumbs. Hell, I even thought of running away when things got bad, and I’m ashamed to admit that. I was just bein’ selfish. But if it weren’t for me, your lives wouldn’t have been put in danger and whatnot, an' you may even have not gotten hurt at all. This was a failure on my part as the leader of The Chaotix Detective Agency, and for that I’m apologizin’. From now on, I’ll be doin’ everything I can as your leader to make it up to you. I understand if your trust in me has been shaken up after that, and in good conscience I can’t-”

Espio cut him off. “Vector, please stop.”

Vector furrowed his eye ridges. 

“Yeah Vector, come on!” Charmy cried out to mimic Espio.

“Vector, I get what you are saying,” Espio continued. “But the fact that you, as a leader, are being bogged down by such a heavy conscience for something as minor as this is a testament to your strong character traits that make you fit to be a leader. You’re more caring than you let on. I know you. You could never ignore someone in need of aid, regardless of if there's money involved or not. There’s no way in hell you’re selfish. The very fact that you are even having these thoughts to begin with indicates to me that not only are you already the best leader we could ask for, but a great friend as well.”

“We’re Chaotix!” Charmy added. “The risk of getting hurt is just part of the job! If we weren’t ready for that, we wouldn’t be here right now!”

“If I may add, Mister Vector,” Cream remarked. “I don’t really know what happened last night, but I know that you are super caring! You always take care of me when mom can’t, no matter how busy you are. I think that you are a great leader and that there can’t be a Team Chaotix without Vector the Crocodile.”

Vector had never been so touched in his life. It felt as though someone was tickling his heart with a feather, and like all the worry and anxiety that had built up inside of him had washed away like dust during a rainstorm. Once again, he felt a surge of pride that he was a Chaotix. 

“Aww, come ‘ere you guys!” he exclaimed, rushing over to the couch and pulling everyone into an uncomfortably tight group hug. 

After they had all flailed around enough to break free of Vector’s bear hug, Vector stood back up and continued to speak. “You guys are the greatest team I could ever ask for!”

Outside, the sun had finally dipped below the horizon. The bright lights of the city illuminated the streets, and with the shades drawn, only a dull glow filled the room. Vector could scarcely see his comrades in the dim light, while the chatter of people out on the town and cars zooming by above reached their ears. Espio chomped on another veggie stick. 

“As you know," began Vector, "I paid a visit to Sonic and Amy’s house a few hours ago. When I arrived, the house was completely empty and in a state of disarray. The only person there was Cream, who I brought back with me. Cream, why don’t you tell us everythin’ that happened this mornin’, in as much detail as you can.”

Cream nodded and recounted her story. Vector stood with his hands on his hips as Espio and Charmy listened intently to her recollection of the day’s events. After she finished, a heavy silence filled the room. 

Espio broke the lull. “Vector, when you were at Amy’s house, did you notice anything out of the ordinary? Signs of tampering, perhaps?”

Vector nodded. “I sure did. The lock on the front door was absolutely busted. And masterfully too, might I add. Definitely professionally done.”

Espio thought for a moment. “Why would they need the lock broken? Metal Sonic could have easily broken out of there at full power, lock or no lock.”

“Yeah, that didn’t add up for me either,” replied Vector thoughtfully. 

“It let Cream get in this morning!” Charmy interjected. “Maybe they were trying to be polite so Cream didn’t have to wait outside!”

“If that were the case, the lock wouldn’t have been broken, just unlocked,” Vector pointed out. 

“Wait, back up a second, Vector,” Espio said. “The lock was broken, and thus Cream was able to get into the house this morning. And Cream mentioned that when she touched Metal Sonic, he woke up. Maybe they needed Cream to touch him in order to bring his power back.”

“I think you’re onto something here, Espio!” Vector replied. “So you think someone broke the lock with the specific intent of letting Cream in?”

“It’s a possibility,” Espio replied. “Cream, did you tell anyone you were planning to go to Amy’s house in the morning?”

Cream thought for a moment. “Nope! I wanted it to be a surprise for Amy.”

“Then Eggman couldn’t have known Cream was coming,” Vector concluded. “Unless he was spying somehow. Those two robots he has could have done the job.”

“Orbot and Cubot aren’t smart enough to do something like that,” Charmy pointed out. Everyone nodded in agreement. 

“So we’re back to square one, then,” Vector sighed. 

“Now, hold on,” Espio interjected. “I have some important information too. I wanted to tell you sooner, but you had already left by the time I woke up.”

Espio recounted what he had overheard Eggman and Orbot talking about regarding the mastermind behind the plan. Vector and Charmy were both fascinated. 

“A mastermind above even Eggman, huh?” Vector thought out loud. “Did he give any clues as to who it could be?”

Espio thought for a second. “Eggman mentioned that it was a female. I heard him referring to the mastermind as “she” more than once.”

“So the mastermind is a girl, then,” Vector remarked. 

“Gender is a social construct!” Charmy reminded the group. They all nodded in agreement again. 

“For all intensive purposes, let’s assume the mastermind is a woman,” Espio continued. “Most likely someone we know, since Eggman somehow knew where we'd be. Cream, can you think of anyone who could have found out about this?”

Cream shook her head. 

Vector spoke up. “It mighta all been coincidence, with Cream goin’ to Amy’s house in the mornin’. They probably weren’t expectin’ Cream to come by at all! Remember, there was one other important person who entered through that door during the fight.”

“You mean Blaze!” Charmy interjected. “She had the Chaos Emerald too. Maybe it was to lure her into the house so Metal Sonic could steal it.”

“Actually, Mister Espio,” Cream cut in, “when I got to Miss Amy’s house, the Chaos Emerald was already there.”

All three Chaotix members were taken aback by her remark. 

“The emerald was…. there already?” Espio asked. 

Cream nodded. “I’m really sorry everyone, I should have mentioned that earlier. I didn’t think it was that important until now.”

“It’s okay, Cream,” Vector told her, giving her a thumbs up. “Now that we know, we've got some valuable information.”

“Let’s backtrack for a moment,” Espio said. “Our immediate predicament takes precedence over the identity of the mastermind until we find a way out of this jam. Back at the base, Eggman mentioned he had six of the Chaos Emeralds at one point. He also said one was taken from him by Blaze recently.”

“Yeah, I do remember him saying that,” Vector murmured, deep in thought. “That means he has five of the emeralds.”

“All those robots in his base were glowing with their power, too,” Charmy mentioned. “They looked like big, ugly, metal glowsticks!”

"On the way back from Amy’s place earlier, Cream n’ I stopped by Tails’ place," Vector told them. "Looks like he was taken too, no surprise there. If my memory is correct, he had one of the emeralds when we saw him earlier.”

“He sure did!” replied Charmy. “I saw it too!”

Espio seemed lost in thought. His chin rested on his clenched fist and he stared at the wall intently. 

Vector took notice of this. “You think of something, Espio?”

When his friend spoke to him, he seemed to break out of a trance. “I was just thinking about how the Emerald might have ended up at Amy’s house. Isn’t that the one Blaze had?”

“Do ya know anything about that, Cream?” asked Vector. 

She shook her head solemnly.

“I didn’t see it there earlier today,” Vector continued. “Metal Sonic must have gotten his hands on it. The same can be said about the one Tails had.”

There was a sharp intake of breath from Espio. “That means…”

“Eggman has all the emeralds,” finished Charmy. 

A heavy silence hung over the room. The blood drained from their faces. When all of the Chaos Emeralds are united, their power becomes overwhelming. The power of each one is amplified by the others, and that already amplified power increases exponentially when they are all together. The seventh one makes their power levels go through the roof. How could they even hope to take Eggman on if he had all of the emeralds, let alone defeat him? What was Eggman capable of with this kind of power? What did he plan to do? These were the questions that raced through the minds of all the Chaotix. That is, until the silence was broken. 

“Um, guys?” Cream timidly inquired. Everyone’s heads turned at her sudden input. Without a word, she hopped off the couch and moved towards the center of the room. All eyes in the room were on her. Slowly and hesitantly, she reached into the pocket of her dress. Everyone’s eyes widened and their mouths fell open, and not just at the revelation that Cream had managed to find a dress with pockets. A powerful green glow illuminated all corners of the room as she extended her arm in front of her. Wisps of green energy danced around her arm like tiny bolts of lightning as a gentle warmth filled the room. It was the light of hope, Vector knew, because in Cream’s outstretched hand was the final Chaos Emerald. 

It was Espio who asked the question on everyone’s mind. “But… how?”

Cream glowed brighter with energy as Cheese hovered near her head. Her ears seemed to be flopping in some unknown breeze. Cream herself seemed the most surprised to see the emerald’s reaction to her touch, gazing at the precious stone with her mouth slightly agape. The glow from the emerald illuminated her expression of astonishment brightly against the dark background. 

She spoke, her voice steady and confident. “I saw the emerald when I walked into the house, and for some reason I couldn’t resist grabbing it. Metal Sonic took it, but it ended up coming back to me. When he saw me in the basement, I had already hidden it away. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys sooner.”

“Don’t apologize, Cream!” Vector roared. “This is exactly what we needed!”

“Eggman doesn’t have all the emeralds now!” Charmy chimed in. 

Espio nodded calmly in agreement, regaining his composure after the surprising reveal. 

“Indeed, this does give us a slight advantage compared to what we had before. However, Eggman still has six of the emeralds. What can we hope to accomplish with only one of them against the power of the other six?”

As if in reaction to Espio’s words, the glow of the emerald faded slightly. The energy coursing through Cream flowed back through her fingertips and into the stone, which still glimmered and cast a green brilliance around the room. Cream continued to gawk at the stone in her hand, as if in shock that she was holding an artifact of such power. 

“You should put that away, Cream,” Vector told her, gesturing to the gem in her hand. “We don’t wanna attract any unwanted attention to ourselves.”

The glow was extinguished when Cream obediently put the emerald back into her pocket. She chose not to comment on how loudly Vector was just yelling. The room seemed darker after the light had suddenly been extinguished. Cream took a seat once again. 

Vector shook his head and cleared his throat. “Right, where were we?”

“There’s a few things we need to discuss,” Espio chimed in. “First, we need to figure out what Eggman’s motive is, and thus predict his next move. His action will crucial to our reaction. Then, we need to rack our brains to figure out who else we can turn to. Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, Tails, Blaze, and Rouge are out of the question, and it’s safe to assume Shadow and Omega befell a similar fate. Is there anyone left we can turn to, or will this be something we will have to face on our own? After that, we should figure out how we can fight back with only one emerald against the other six, if that is even possible. We need to develop a plan of attack. It’s time we went on the offensive. And the final thing we need to figure out, or at least consider, is the mastermind and her motives and role in all this. Of course, we don’t need to know that right away as we do not have many clues to go off of.”

“Let’s do a quick recap of the whole case so far,” Vector said, his arms crossed. “Espio?”

Reaching into a dark corner of the room, the head honcho of the Chaotix wheeled their trusty whiteboard into view. The writing on it was barely visible through the darkness. As their eyes adjusted, Vector erased the diagrams Espio had drawn two days prior. With the board now a blank slate, Espio took up the marker from Vector’s outstretched arm as if it were the sword of a knight. Removing the cap, he made marker hit board.  
As Charmy, Cream, and Cheese looked on intently, Vector began to speak and Espio began to draw. 

“This whole thing started a few days ago, when Eggman approached us with a case to investigate Sonic and Amy. The best part was, he paid us up front.”

Vector practically had money signs overlaid onto his pupils. Espio drew a minimalist portrait of Eggman carrying a small satchel with a money sign on it on the board. 

“We decided to take the case, because you know what we say. We never turn down work that pays!”

Espio drew a picture of Vector’s face with dollar signs on top of his eyes next to his doodle of Eggman. 

“First, we went to see Tails at his workshop. He always knows where his best friend Sonic is, even when nobody else does. An’ of course, he had a Chaos Emerald there. Prolly for one of his newest inventions.”

Barely keeping up with Vector, Espio quickly etched Tails with a glowing Chaos Emerald in front of him. He put an arrow from Eggman and Vector in the top corner to Tails, forming the appearance of a flow chart. 

“After Tails spilled the beans on where Sonic and Amy were livin’, we decided to pay em a surprise visit at their lovely home. For some reason, Knuckles was there too.”

Espio drew a speech bubble near Tails’ mouth and arrow pointing to a drawing of Sonic’s Amy’s heads with a small heart between them. Below Sonic and Amy, he drew Knuckles with an enraged expression on his face. 

“We cut right to the chase with them. I noticed they were actin’ weird, ‘specially about the basement. Espio snuck down there to go check it out.”

Another arrow, this time pointing to a quick doodle of Espio with a shimmering aura around him. The shimmer was represented by a squiggly line surrounding him, presumably to indicate him being invisible. This time, Charmy did not tease him for it. 

“And to our surprise, he found none other than Metal Sonic down there!”

Espio drew Metal Sonic’s head, with a line above it to indicate that he was being remanded in a basement. 

“At this point, Blaze had already escaped from Eggman’s base with one of the Chaos Emeralds. By the morning, the Chaos Emerald was in Sonic’s kitchen. We’ll go over how that may have happened in a minute, though. Let’s discuss what happened with us at Eggman’s base this morning first.”

Espio began to sketch the general shape of Eggman’s base, with Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot inside of it. Outside of it were Espio, Vector, and Charmy, with Shadow and Omega drawn preemptively. For good measure, he drew Rouge inside the base with Eggman, but with a box around her to indicate her incarceration. 

“At Eggman’s base, Espio and Charmy snuck in to gather some intel. Charmy found that all of Eggman’s robots were bein’ powered by five of the Chaos Emeralds. That made 'em a pretty formidable force.”

Espio quickly doodled an Egg Pawn surrounded by an aura similar to the one he had drawn around the doodle of himself earlier. 

“Meanwhile, Espio made it inside the base where the Doc and his bots spilled some of his plans.”

Espio drew arrows starting at him and Charmy pointing into the base.

“The Doc said that he wanted to use the emerald-powered robots to capture all who opposed him, includin’ us. He set us on this case so that he could have us go to Amy’s house, where Metal Sonic would copy all of our data. Roundabout way of doin’ it, but it worked out for the Doctor in the end.

He tried to lure us all into his trap in a few ways: for Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, Tails, and Blaze, he knew they were gonna keep Metal Sonic to try to turn him. Seems he really thought far ahead on this one, takin’ the scenario into account. He set Metal Sonic up to be captured, but not really subdued. Metal Sonic waited there and copied all of their data while Tails spent his time tryin’ to overwrite a code that couldn’t be overwritten, accordin’ to Eggman. Meanwhile, Metal Sonic was gatherin’ data on 'em and transmittin’ it right to Eggman, and they fell right into his trap.

For Shadow, Rouge, and Omega, the trap was laid out at his base. He provoked 'em to come attack one in some way or another, makin’ them charge headlong into his Chaos-powered robots. Against an army of ‘em, they didn’t stand a chance. So, they fell into Eggman’s trap too.

For us, Eggman was countin’ on us goin’ to investigate, providin’ him with useful data and also givin’ Metal Sonic more power. There may have been even more to it, but we’ll cover that in a second.

Anyway, Espio saw that Eggman had special cells prepped for all of us, each one specifically designed to hold us. Eggman also revealed one crucial bit: there’s someone else pulling the strings, a mastermind behind the scenes. We have almost no clues about her. 

Once Eggman had all of us on lockdown, he would be able to achieve his goals without anyone to stop him. That was the extent of his plan. But he did not expect us to escape, which threw a wrench in things for him. Shadow and Omega gave us the chance to escape, but they ended up gettin’ captured themselves. Now, we cut to this morning.”

Espio jerked back into action and drew Cream on the board, with arrow from her pointing to Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles. 

“Cream decided to pay Amy a visit at her house, but found that the door was not locked. When she went inside, the Chaos Emerald was there already. These could indicate two things: either Blaze gave Sonic, Amy, or Knuckles the emerald after we left, or the emerald was planted there by either Eggman or the mastermind. This is where things get a little muddy: did the mastermind leave the door open so Cream could get in, or Blaze? The lock was tampered with, so which of them was the expected guest? Or was it both of them?”

Espio drew the green emerald with a question mark above it. 

“Cream took the emerald and went into the basement. In there she found Metal Sonic, who woke up at her touch. Amy an’ everyone came bargin’ in to fight him. At some point, Blaze came in too and joined the battle. But they all lost. Mysteriously, Metal Sonic did not touch Cream or make any effort to take the emerald from her. That brings us to a few hours ago, when I went to check out Amy’s house and found Cream there.”

Espio drew Vector with Cream on the last empty section of the board. 

“After the two of us discussed what happened, we checked out Tails’ workshop. Tails had one of the emeralds two days ago, and today it was nowhere to be found. Unless he hid it very well somewhere, the emerald is in the hands of Eggman. He now has six of the seven emeralds, with the last one in our hands now. That brings us to where we are now. Anyone got any questions?”

Charmy, Cream, and Espio shook their heads. Cheese, however, enthusiastically raised his hand. 

“Yes, Cheese,” Vector said, pointing at the Chao. 

“Chao chao?” he asked. 

“It’s there over in the corner,” Vector replied, pointing to the restroom door. Cheese fluttered into the restroom and shut the door behind him. 

“What I don’t understand about this whole thing,” Espio said, rubbing his wrist as he put the cap back on the marker, “is why Eggman really needed us. There isn’t a ton of data we could provide for Metal Sonic, especially next to Sonic, Shadow, and Blaze. What did he really want us for?”

Charmy and Vector shrugged. 

“That doesn’t seem important compared to what we need to deal with now,” Charmy said. 

“I’m with Charmy,” Vector agreed. “Let’s do what Espio suggested earlier, and think about what Eggman could be plannin’ next.”

Unable to sit still, Charmy hovered up into the air and spoke. “He wants to take over the world, as usual!”

“Obviously,” retorted Espio. “But how? And what will he do once he has everyone under his control?”

“He only wants to take over the world to satisfy his huge ego," Charmy replied. Once he’s in control, he won’t know what to do with himself! Everything will go downhill from there.”

“I assume he’ll build Eggmanland and put his face on everything,” Espio said. “Beyond that, I'd imagine a militaristic dictatorship enforced by his emerald-powered robots.”

“Speaking of the emeralds, I wonder if he wants the Master Emerald too,” said Charmy. 

“I don’t think he needs it,” Espio replied. “With all the Chaos Emeralds, he can take the Master Emerald whenever he wants it. The power of the Master Emerald will not make the Chaos Emeralds any more powerful; rather it can only be used to neutralize their power or act as an equivalent source. He’d only need it as a failsafe, and with Knuckles captured, he could snatch it any time he wants. That he has yet to do so shows that it’s not a part of the plan.”

"A reasonable deduction," concluded Vector. 

“So what’s his next move?” Charmy asked. 

“He needs all of the Chaos Emeralds,” Vector answered. In unison, all three members turned to Cream.

“Dr. Eggman’s coming after me?” she deduced, a worried tone creeping into her voice. 

Espio nodded. “It’s safe to assume he is after that last emerald you have. Whether or not he knows you have it is a different story.”

“I concur, Espio,” Vector replied, using a big word in an attempt to sound smarter than he actually was. 

“So his next move is to take the final emerald,” Espio continued. “For this, he will send Metal Sonic, no doubt. Our response should be to evade capture. It seems we’ve lost Eggman’s trail for now. We should lay low with the final Chaos Emerald and wait for things to blow over.”

“I disagree,” Vector replied. “This ain't the time to be sittin’ back doin’ nothin’. Eggman already has six of the emeralds. That’s a lotta power. Just think what he could do with all that, especially if Sonic ain’t around to do anythin' about it.”

“I’m with Vector here!” Charmy chimed in. “We have the upper hand, so we should use it.”

It was two against one. Espio had no choice but to concede. 

“And what of Cream and the emerald?” he asked. “We can’t force her to come along or put her into harm’s way.”

“It’s Cream’s emerald,” Vector said. “She should decide what to do with it. Cream?”

There was a determined look in Cream’s eyes when she began to speak. “Some of my best friends were taken by Eggman. He’s a bad man, and I won't let him be mean to my friends like that! I want to help you guys to stop him.”

Vector grinned. Espio frowned. Charmy plunged his hand into the bag of veggie sticks and ate a handful of the broken sticks found at the bottom, polishing it off. He tossed the empty bag into the recycling bin. 

“It’ll be dangerous, Cream,” Espio warned. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Cream nodded. 

“CHARMY, WOULD YA CHEW WITH YOUR MOUTH SHUT?” Vector suddenly roared at Charmy, who was loudly chewing right next to his ear with a sly smile across his face. When the bee did not stop chewing, Vector tackled him to the ground and tried to force his mouth shut with his bare hands. Charmy kicked and screamed as he struggled to move his head to avoid Vector’s hand, still chewing with an open mouth the entire time. Cream giggled. She always enjoyed watching Vector and Charmy squabble. 

“Anyway,” Charmy said, easily wriggling free of Vector’s grasp and flying into the air as the head honcho simply laid spread eagle on the ground, completely winded from wrestling. “What were we gonna talk about next?”

“Who else we can turn to,” Espio replied, entirely unfazed by the debacle that had just ensued. “Who would be able to help us that Eggman hasn’t caught yet?”

“What about Mister Big?” asked Cream. “He’s always happy to help a friend!”

There was a clamor as Vector scrambled back to his feet. “Big would be a powerful ally, but he’s too peaceful. He doesn’t have the right mindset for a fight like this on his own, ya know?”

Cream knew exactly what he meant. If asked, Big would certainly help. But despite his sheer power and force, his complacency would make him more of a bystander than a fighter. 

“Shadow and Omega?” suggested Espio. “You didn’t specifically see them get captured, right?”

Vector scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, about that…”

He trailed off. There was another moment of silence as everyone waited for him to continue. 

Espio raised his would-be eyebrows. “Yes?”

“I kinda thought that scratchin’ the back of my head and sayin’ ‘Yeah, about that…’ an’ trailin’ off like that would explain everything I needed to,” Vector replied. 

“Well it didn’t!” Charmy replied, flying closer to Vector’s face and holding up one finger. “Be more specific!”

“Please take this seriously, Charmy,” Espio said calmly, pushing Charmy aside. “Vector means that he saw Shadow and Omega get captured, and you know that.”

Charmy snickered and Vector nodded solemnly. 

“So they’re out of the question,” Espio continued. “Can you guys think of anyone else?”

"Have you heard from Silver lately?" Vector asked Espio. 

In response Espio shook his head. "He only visits when he wants to. Frankly, the fact that the future hasn't become bad enough for him to come back and try to help is a good sign, however we don't really have any means of contacting him as things stand."

"Wait a second," Charmy piped in. "If Silver's future isn't bad, doesn't mean we're destined to win?" 

Espio shook his head once again. "Unfortunately, time is not as linear as you think. For all we know, the future could be awful. From our perspectiv, it has yet to be decided. It is very possible that Silver will jump from that future, but the past that he will arrive at from his perspective is still in the future from ours."

"Alright Doctor Who, we get the picture," Vector said. "Point is, Silver is out of the question but our future is still undecided and we've still gotta give it all we got."

"Yeah, more or less," replied Espio. "Can we think of anyone else who can help us?" 

Everyone racked their brains, but in the end could not think of anyone. 

“So, we can’t think of jack squat for allies,” Charmy said. “Guess we’re on our own.”

Those words sent a chill down everyone’s spine. They were on their own. No backup this time, nobody to fall back on. If they failed, that was it. They were the last line of defense, the last hope. 

It was Vector who recovered from the shock first. 

“Come on, guys!” he exclaimed, causing everyone to jump a little. “You said it earlier Charmy. We’re Chaotix! We face danger every day and overcome it. This is no different. It’s just another case for us to crack wide open.”

“He’s right!” Charmy replied enthusiastically. “I sure did say that a few minutes ago!”

“And if we fail?” Espio asked. “What then?”

Vector smiled. “We won’t fail.”

****

The sun peeked over the horizon, illuminating the Chaotix Detective Agency. Cream unleashed a tiny yawn, followed by Cheese, and then Charmy. 

Everyone was getting tired. It was dawn now, and they had been up all night. It was time to wrap things up here, Vector knew. He clapped his hands together. 

“Alright guys, we’ve been up all night,” he said. “Let’s cover the last part.”

Espio nodded. “We need to figure out how to fight back with only one emerald.”

“This is an easy one,” Vector replied. “What’s the Chaotix’s biggest asset?”

“Definitely not money,” Espio replied. 

“Is it that you guys always take care of me and Cheese after school?” Cream asked. 

“Oh I know!” shouted Charmy. “It’s Charmy Bee!”

Vector sighed. “Asset meanin’ our biggest strength, you guys."

"I still say its Charmy Bee," Charmy repeated. 

Vector chose to ignore him. "It’s our brains and our versatility, you guys. Sonic will go charging headfirst into danger, Knuckles will punch his way through, and Shadow will use his Chaos power. But we operate a different way, don’t we?”

“Get to the point, Vector,” Espio said. Vector sighed again. 

“Okay, here’s the plan,” he told them. “We’re Chaotix, so we can’t just go chargin’ headfirst into Eggman’s base with nothing but our muscles and one Chaos Emerald. We’d get our butts kicked. So, we need to sneak inside. Espio, you’re a master of stealth and you've already been around Eggman’s base. Did you see any alternate ways in?”

The ninja pondered for a moment. There was only the main entrances and the side entrances that he had seen. But Espio’s intuition told him there was more to it than that. Eggman would never hole up somewhere that he could be cornered in, especially in a base of that magnitude. There had to be a back way in. But where?

Finally, Espio remembered. It was something so minor that he had not even thought to think about it until now. His astute nature always paid off. 

“I think I’ve got it,” Espio said, his voice sounding distant as if he was still deep in thought, which he was. “Eggman would never make a base of that size without a back entrance that he can run away through.”

“Isn’t there a big mountain behind the base?” Charmy asked. 

Espio nodded in confirmation. “Do you remember when I went into the elevator with Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot? There was a button in there marked as the basement. There has to be a secret exit there. All the other levels are his factory, or are too high to have an escape. I’d hazard a guess and say that there is a cave system running through that mountain. That’s our ticket in.”

“I see,” said Vector. “That could work. Let’s lay low for the rest of the day, and tomorrow we'll head-”

His words were suddenly cut off by a barely audible rustle directly outside the door. Everyone’s heads snapped in the direction of the noise in alarm. A feeling of apprehension trickled into everyone. Had someone been listening in? Not a moment had passed before Espio closed the distance between him and door and yanked it open. There was a gust of air. The purple blur ground to a halt at the top of the stairs and saw... nothing. Espio breathed a sigh of relief. 

To be safe, he descended into the main lobby and had a look around. There was not a soul to be seen. Vector and the others joined him in the lobby, panicked expressions etched onto their faces. 

“There’s nobody here,” he informed them. Charmy and Cream smiled at each other relief. 

Vector, however, still seemed perturbed as he scanned the room. 

Espio noticed this. “What’s wrong Vector?”

“There’s nobody here…” he muttered to himself, seemingly deep in thought. Espio chose not to inquire further. 

“Yes,” he replied slowly. “I just said that.”

There was a brief moment of silence between Espio and Vector, but without saying a word, Vector turned around and trudged back up the stairs. Everyone followed, exhausted from the events of the day. It was time for some well deserved rest before the final battle. 

****

As the sun rose on his base, Dr. Eggman sat in his lair, pondering. He had made the mistake of creating a base with a huge window that faces east. As a result, the sun’s glare shone directly into his eyes every morning. It was a decision he quickly came to regret. Cursing his lack of forethought, Eggman swiveled his chair around. 

At the current moment, his plan was a waiting game. He had no choice but to sit back and twiddle his thumbs as he waited for Metal Sonic to return with the final Chaos Emerald. Only once he had all seven emeralds could he carry out the final phase of his plan. He was so close, he could almost taste victory. His plans never actually worked out, but for once he had a very good feeling. 

A loud ringing noise snapped Eggman back to reality. He blinked and glanced around before realizing the noise he heard was his landline phone ringing. 

Wondering who could possibly be calling this early in the morning, he swivelled his chair around once again, shielding his eyes from the sun as he answered the phone on his desk. 

“Hello?” he asked. 

His expression immediately brightened at the voice he heard on the other line. You see, in this scene, Eggman will be able to hear what the person on the other line is hearing, but we will not hear their side of the conversation for the sake of plot development. Stay tuned. 

Eggman listened to the voice for a moment and then spoke. “Any updates? I’m getting antsy sitting around like this.”

There was another pause. Then Eggman replied.

“So that’s how it is, eh?” he said. “No matter, the final emerald can wait another day or two. I will call Metal Sonic back to base. It’s time we stomp out those who are opposed to us once and for all.”

Eggman’s eyebrows furrowed as he listened. 

“Huh?” he asked. “What’s she doing with them?”

There was silence again as Eggman listened to the person on the other side. 

“Hrm, that certainly complicates things. But the success of the plan takes precedence over all else. You know this.”

Eggman listened, his face displaying a mixture of fiery rage and paralyzing fear. It was clear he was apprehensive of the person he was speaking with. 

“Okay, okay!” he cried out, interrupting the person on the other line. “Fine, I won’t do anything. It’s not part of the plan anyway.”

A look of horror crossed Eggman’s face. 

“Understood! Er, loud and clear, ma’am.”

The phone line disconnected. 


	8. The Darkness Below

The entrance to the cave before the Chaotix gaped open like a crater in the meteor herd. In fact, the opening was so perfectly round that it almost looked to be the cave’s actual mouth. Darkness appeared to take hold immediately when entering the chasm. All around the rocky opening was sandy desert and rocks as far as the eye could see, and the mountain loomed over them like a tower. As the Chaotix approached with Vector confidently in the lead, all eyes were fixed upon the opening. 

“It would seem my hunch was correct,” Espio observed. 

Although his gut feeling told him this mission was a bad idea, he knew Vector never changed his mind once it was set. He hunkered along in the rear of the group, scanning the nearby area for any signs of danger. 

Directly in front of him, Cream walked at a leisurely pace as Charmy hovered around her explaining the mechanics of his favorite video game. If Cream was annoyed by his inability to stop talking, she did not show it. If anything, she seemed to enjoy listening to him talk. A bright smile was etched across her face the entire time. Cheese sat atop Vector’s head, nibbling on some french fries that Vector had bought for him on the way there. The Chao would not stop begging and Vector eventually caved. 

“Chaooo,” Cheese cooed in response to Espio. 

Vector nodded. “Yep, we’re goin’ in there alright.”

Cream and Charmy’s attentions were now fixed on the cave as well. The detectives slowed to a stop and scrutinized the cavern before them. A damp air wafted out to them, it’s stench infiltrating their nostrils and sending shivers down their spines. 

“What a nasty cave!” Charmy said, holding his nose shut so his voice sounded extremely nasally. “Do we really gotta go in there?”

“Would you rather go in through the front door?” Espio asked in response. “I’m sure Eggman would appreciate us making things easier for him, at least.”

“C’mon, guys,” Vector said. “The doctor ain’t gonna stop himself.”

Moving with purpose, he made his way into the entrance of the cave was immediately swallowed the darkness. Charmy gulped. 

“Or, maybe he will stop himself,” he muttered to nobody in particular. “Maybe he secretly feels bad about all this deep down and won’t make us go into the scary cave.”

Espio gently shoved him forward. Apprehensively, Charmy entered, followed closely by Cream and Espio.

Immediately upon entering, the detectives found themselves unable to see more than one foot ahead of them. The darkness seemed to engulf them. Vector reached into the “expedition fanny pack” that he bought on the way there and withdrew four flashlights. Quietly, he handed one out to each of the members. He dug his hand back into the fanny pack and with two fingers withdrew a tiny, keychain flashlight. This one was for Cheese, who cooed with excitement. 

Vector addressed the group. “We got no room for failure, guys. It’s real dark in here, so be extra careful and stay close to one another.”

Everyone nodded and the trek through the darkness began. 

Their lights illuminated many secret wonders hidden in the shadows of the tunnel. Slimy stalactites, iridescent crystals, and some creatures that looked to be distant relatives of Rouge. Cream’s eyes lit up as these marvels were revealed to her as if she were a child learning of the wonders of the world, which she was. 

Charmy apprehensively trailed behind with Espio, whose eyes were scanning the shadows for any hidden threats that may be lurking. His stinger was at the ready, posted to attack should they be ambushed. Vector took the lead, illuminating the path as they all continued forward in silence. The cave was quiet, and the smell of decay hung in the thick air. The only sounds to be heard were the sounds of water trickling and dripping into puddles from the ceiling of the cave and the echoes of their own footsteps through the unknown. 

After a few minutes of relative uneventfulness, the detectives came to a fork in the road. Almost as if the cave anticipated their arrival, three branching pathways presented themselves. The still air from within felt hungry, as if it were taunting them to enter if they dared. 

Vector surveyed all of the tunnels. Each of the three were barely wide enough for him to slip through. Someone small like Charmy would easily be able to pass, but he would not be able to scout all three tunnels himself. 

Espio could feel an aura of darkness surrounding the three passageways. An energy of evil flowed out, and only Espio’s honed ninja senses were able to pick up on it. 

He approached Vector and stood to his side, both of them not looking away from the sight before them. 

“There is an aura of darkness coming from within,” Espio told him. “Malevolence awaits us.”

Vector said nothing, only continued to stare ahead in deep thought. After a moment of silence, he moved. His hand dove back into the seemingly bottomless fanny pack and withdrew four walkie talkies. They were the exact same model they used the last time they were at Eggman’s base. He handed one out to each member. 

“Vector, you don’t mean…” Espio began. 

Vector nodded. “We’ll split up.”

“Will you not heed my warning?” Espio catechized. “We’re walking directly into a trap!”

“I know we are!” Vector snapped. “But do you see any other way? This is our best bet. If we try ta’ waltz right up to the front gate we’ll get demolished. An’ I’m not sendin’ you an’ Charmy in there alone again. We’ll split up and communicate with these walkies, then meet up on the other side.”

“So we’re gonna spring the trap!” Charmy observed. 

“Precisely,” replied Vector. “Spring it, and make our way through it. That’s what Chaotix do.”

“If we expect the trap, I suppose that does put us at more of an advantage,” Espio conceded. “But splitting up only puts us at a fraction of our power to overcome it.”

“The outlook is grim, Espio,” Vector said. Although his voice was calm, there was a certain power to his words. A chill shot down Espio’s spine. 

“Hopes are growin’ thin,” Vector continued. “Eggman has issued us a challenge, and this mission is gonna need us all. There’s nobody left to heed his call but us.”

Charmy nodded in agreement. “My thing will be dishing out the first sting if anyone tries to stop us!”

“And you’re clearly ready to go, Mister Espio,” Cream observed. 

“I agree that it would be faster if we split up” Espio replied, ignoring the blatant reference. “And yes, time is of the essence. But like you said Vector, we’re the only ones left who can turn this around. If one of us falls, that’s one less person who can solve this. This mission is going to need us all. If we’re together we have a better chance of stopping whatever is going to come at us.”

“Metal Sonic is waiting for us in one of those caves,” Vector replied. 

“What? How can you-” Espio began. 

“Call it detective’s intuition,” Vector cut in. “He can’t exactly fit an army of robots down here, so he’ll send his one robot army instead. Metal Sonic can only be in one place at once, can’t he? If we’re all together, he’ll take us all down at once and be done with it. If Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, and Blaze couldn’t take him head to head, we’d be pretty dumb to think we could. If we’re split up, we’ll be harder targets for ‘im. As long as we communicate and be stealthy, we can beat him.”

Espio had no choice but to concede. Both his argument and Vector’s were equally valid, and yet again he was outnumbered. 

The team split up: Vector took the left-most tunnel, Espio took the one in the middle, while Cream and Charmy took the one on the right. It was a tight squeeze for Vector, but by standing sideways he managed to push his bulbous belly through the narrow opening. To his relief, the tunnel opened up a little bit and he was able to walk normally. 

“Can everyone hear me?” he asked through the walkies. Everyone replied saying they read him loud and clear. 

_ All right, Eggman,_ he thought, _ let’s get this party started. _

****

Espio carefully trudged through his tunnel. There was a sharp downward incline immediately after entering, so he assumed his tunnel ran below the others. He shone his flashlight on anything that moved, as well as many things that didn’t, antsy to reach the end of this maze. 

As he walked, he reflected on Vector’s behavior recently. The head honcho was smarter than he let on, but Espio could not help but feel like he was overlooking something extremely crucial. Sometimes he could be awfully slow witted for a detective. Still, he had proven himself a worthy leader and detective many times before, so Espio heeded his judgement and decisions. 

He snapped back to reality when he saw a flash of color out of the corner of his eye. With lightning fast reflexes, he spun and shined his flashlight on the source, ready for battle. To his relief, the light illuminated Vector, standing stiffly before him. 

“Oh, Vector,” Espio said, shining his light on the ground near him. “Did our tunnels already cross paths?”

Espio stole a glance behind Vector, and sure enough another corridor branched off at a 45 degree angle. 

Vector nodded and spoke flatly. “Yes. Have you encountered any obstacles so far?”

_ He's talking like a robot,_ Espio thought. _ What's his deal all of a sudden? _

The chameleon shook his head. “No troubles yet. We should keep our guard up.”

“Follow me,” replied Vector. Without any hesitation, he whisked past Espio and took the lead. There was something off about Vector, but Espio could not put his finger on what it was. He was likely deep in thought again. Something seemed to be on his mind earlier as well. Espio opted not to pry and followed along in silence. 

The duo eventually came to a large open area. The ceiling was high above them there was a medium-sized lake in the middle, with a waterfall cascading from an opening above into the pool. In the ceiling, there was a small hole that allowed sunlight into the room, making the water sparkle. It was so impeccably laid out that Espio could not help but think it was man-made. Contrary to the tunnels they were just in, there was a calming mist in this room that smelled fresh and clean. The water was so clear that Espio could see all the way to the bottom. A few small fish swam about, and he could almost hear the echoes of children playing about like a faint memory. 

“Vector, do you think Eggman could have made this place?” Espio asked. 

There was no response. 

He turned around and looked back at the entrance. There was nobody there. 

_ Strange,_ he thought. _ Vector was there just a second ago. Where did he go? _

No sooner had the thought crossed Espio’s mind when he felt a sharp pain on the side of his head. Caught off guard, he yelped as the impact lifted him off his feet and sent him careening into the pool. He hit the water with a splash, still reeling from being struck. His vision blurred as he began to sink to the bottom. A loud ringing noise in his head prevented him from moving or processing any complex thoughts at all. Through the blurry water, he thought he caught a glimpse of a shimmering green figure standing at the water’s edge. 

_ Is that…. Vector? _ he thought. That was all he was able to muster as his weakened form descended to the bottom of the lake.

****

Charmy and Cream warily crept through the dark catacombs. Their tunnel had numerous smaller passageways branching off from the main one, but with three people they were able to scout most of them. They all only ended in dead ends, as if the mountain itself was specifically keeping them on one path to guide towards some unknown destination. It all scared the crap out of Charmy. 

“I hope one of these paths crosses over Vector’s or Espio’s,” he told Cream, his voice wavering slightly.  
At first, Cream did not seem fazed by the whole situation, but after splitting up she realized how vulnerable of a position they were all in. She hung behind Charmy, her and Cheese flickering their lights all around the caverns as they progressed. 

“I hope so too, Charmy,” she replied. “It’s really scary in here.”

“Chao chao,” Cheese whimpered. 

Charmy was still a child, and he knew that he could not match up to Espio and Vector yet in terms of skill and power. Over the years, he had learned valuable lessons from the others on how to be a true Chaotix. He always had a silly and lighthearted demeanor, but the bee would always step up to the plate and be serious when he needed to. Sometimes he liked to lighten up the mood with some light humor or bugging his friends, and other times he liked acting his usual, childish self simply because it felt right. Right now was neither of those instances. Charmy realized the gravity of the situation and knew that it was no time for messing around. But as a member of the Chaotix, a group founded on benevolence, he could not turn a blind eye to the fearful rabbit behind him. 

He spun around, flying backwards so he could face Cream. “Hey Cream, wanna hear a joke?”

The rabbit gave him a confused, inquisitive look but did not say anything. Charmy took that as a yes. 

“What do you call a fish with no eyes?” he asked.

“I’m… not sure,” replied Cream. “What do you call it?”

Charmy paused for a moment build up anticipation. Then he spoke.

“A fsh.”

For a moment, Cream stared blankly at the bee. When the punchline dawned on her, a smile crept back across her face. She began to giggle, covering her mouth with her hand. 

“You like that one, huh?” he asked, chuckling along with her. “Wanna hear another?”

Cream nodded. 

“So two windmills are in a wind farm. One asks the other ‘hey, what kinda music do you listen to?’ and the other one says ‘I’m a big metal fan!'"

The hilarity mounted. Cream was laughing so hard she could barely breathe. Tears were streaming from eyes. Cheese cooed confusedly. He did not get the jokes, but was too afraid to ask for an explanation. 

“Charmy, your jokes are awful!” she cried amidst her laughter. 

“But awful in a good way!” Charmy replied, chuckling. 

After laughing some more, Cream asked Charmy to tell her another joke. 

He lifted his helmet off of his head and stroked the top of his head as he thought. His expression brightened when something came to mind, plopping his helmet back over his antennae. 

“Ok, I got one! What’s red and bad for your teeth?”

Cream thought for a moment. “Knuckles?”

It was Charmy’s turn to snicker. “No, a brick, but probably Knuckles too!”

Even Cheese understood that one as the three of them erupted into roaring laughter. Charmy kicked his legs around in midair and Cream had to lean against the wall for support. Their laughter echoed throughout the empty cavern. As the mirth finally began to die down, Charmy spoke again. 

“Now that you know how great my jokes are, be sure to ask me to tell one when Vector is around! He hates ‘em and it’s so much fun to annoy him.”

“It’s really funny when he gets annoyed with you,” Cream agreed. “Speaking of Vector, we should keep going. He will be mad if we stay here and don’t keep exploring.”

“Do you at least feel less scared?” Charmy asked. Cream nodded with a smile, and Charmy agreed. All that laughter made this cave feel much less scary to him. 

He and Cream moved forward, but they had barely covered any ground when they turned a bend and both of them stopped short. They stood atop a ledge that dropped directly down into a large cavern. In the center of the cavern was a large pond with crystal-clear water. Sunshine shone through the roof and illuminated the cavern via a small slit in the roof. The water appeared to sparkle. While the center of the room was highly illuminated, the outer walls were nearly pitch black. It was nearly impossible to tell if there were other connecting tunnels, or what could be lurking in the darkness. 

Charmy furrowed his eyebrows. Compared to the dank, depressing labyrinth behind him, this grotto seemed strangely not-disconcerting. In fact, it was almost pleasant. Something was out of place here. 

As the youngest member of the Chaotix, he had been training his mind to think like a detective would, and thus has found himself more in-tune with the world around him, picking up on more minute details that others may miss. 

He decided to get a closer look. He hovered to the cavern floor far below, landing with his oversized feet on the rocky floor. He was followed by Cream shortly after, who had used her ears to levitate downwards. The two of them silently exchanged a look of bewilderment. 

There were no noises to be heard, save for the soft splashing of a waterfall from above into the far side of the lake. Charmy tried to shine his flashlight upwards to find the source of the falls, however he could not locate it with such a dim light. The walls were significantly higher than they had looked at first. The flashlight barely even illuminated the ceiling. 

Cream was the first to notice it. 

“Charmy, look!” she cried, pointing into the depths of the pool. Charmy poked his head next to Cream and saw a purple blur lying at the bottom of the water that he knew to be Espio. 

“Wha?” he shouted. “That’s Espio!”

“He isn’t moving!” Cream observed. “I’m gonna go get him!” 

Before Charmy could protest, the rabbit kicked her shoes off and dove into the water, swimming deftly towards the bottom. Charmy’s mouth gaped open as he watched her swim to the bottom of the lake and wrap her hands around Espio, who looked to be barely conscious. 

There was a glint in the corner of Charmy’s eye. His head jerked upright and he glanced around but could not locate the source. Although he was under the tutelage of a ninja, his senses were not nearly honed enough to focus on something from his peripheral vision. He took a few steps back from the edge of the pool, nervously glancing around. There were too many dark corners for him to check, but he knew a metallic gleam did not bode well. 

A moment later, there was a barely audible rustle behind Charmy. His heart jumped to his chest. But when he wheeled to face the sound, he found none other than Vector the Crocodile standing behind him. 

“Aw man,” he said when the bee noticed him. “I was tryin’ to sneak up behind you and scare ya!”

Charmy smiled with relief. 

“You stink, Vector!” he cried, sticking his tongue out tauntingly. "Did our paths cross or something?" 

"Guess so," Vector replied. "What's going on here, anyway?" 

Cream emerged from the water moments later, dragging Espio behind her. Her dress was completely drenched and her ears were sodden. Water cascaded off of her and Espio, forming a large puddle at the edge of the lake. She hauled Espio onto the rocky floor and rolled him onto his back, sinking to her knees in exhaustion. 

“Whoa, Espio and Cream!” he yelped in surprise. “What happened?”

He rushed past Charmy to be at the side of his friends. Charmy on the other hand, stayed put and continued to examine the shadows. There was no way that gleam could have been Vector, so what was it?

Vector kneeled at Espio’s side as he coughed up water and painfully blinked his eyes open. 

“Wh-what’s going on?” he feebly asked. 

When his vision focused, he saw Cream and Vector standing over him with concerned expressions etched onto their faces. 

“Are you okay, Mister Espio?” Cream asked. 

“Come on Espio, wake up!” Vector cried. 

Wincing, the chameleon sat up. The first thing he noticed was that Cream was soaked and shivering. 

“You… saved me?” he asked. Cream nodded. Even with the faith Espio already had in Cream’s abilities, he was impressed. 

He gently put his hand on Cream’s shoulder and smiled. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t there.”

“What happened, Espio?” Vector asked. 

The memory of the shimmering green blur flashed through his mind. He wheeled around and shot Vector a glare. 

“You should know,” he retorted. “You were there for the whole thing. Or was it you who knocked me in there to begin with?”

Vector blinked in stunned confusion. “Uh, Espio? Ya sure you’re okay?”

“No thanks to you,” he replied. “We came here together, remember? I turned around and you were gone, then I got punched in the face. As I was sinking, I saw you standing over me.”

“Dude, I only just got here,” replied Vector. "What are you goin’ on about?”

“Yeah, Mister Vector just arrived,” Cream confirmed. She and Vector exchanged a concerned glance. 

Espio was at a loss for words. Had he imagined Vector the whole time? Maybe the events of the past few days were finally catching up to him. It’s true he did not physically check to make sure Vector wasn't a hallucination, but who in their right mind would think to confirm something like that upon seeing their friend?

“You can’t be serious,” he said, rubbing his head. “Our tunnels crossed paths earlier, remember? You asked me if I’d encountered any obstacles, and then told me to follow you, after which you led me here.”

After a moment of incredulous staring, Vector chortled. “Yer losing it, Espio! I’d never say something like ‘Have you encountered any obstacles’! What do ya think I am, a robot?”

He shot a knowing wink at Espio. 

“Charmy and I must have came here only moments after it happened, too,” Cream continued. “I didn’t see Mister Vector anywhere until after I came out of the water. Charmy saw it all too, right Charmy?”

There was no response, only the soft echo of Cream's voice. 

“...Charmy?” Cream hesitantly called out once more. She glanced around the room and saw no sign of him nearby. The shadows that lurked near the walls cloaked most of the cavern in darkness. Vector reared up to his full height and flicked his light on, flashing it into the darkness. Still, there was no sign of him. 

“He was right there a second ago,” Vector murmured. “Where could he have gotten off ta’?”

A buzzing noise emanated fromtthe darkness nearby. Everyone fearfully turned to the source of the sound that ominously grew louder with baited breath. Moments later, Charmy Bee emerged from the darkness and floated towards them. Espio, Vector and Cream sighed in relief, but that did not quell the unnerving feeling floating about their guts. The bee's face was blank and emotionless, and his flat stare bore into their very souls. 

Espio had shakily clambered to his feet, still reeling from the impact earlier. He surveyed the bee hovering before him. Espio and Charmy had been friends for years, and he knew Charmy better than anyone else. Looking at the bee now, he instantly knew something was not right. 

“Hello guys,” he said. The voice belonged to Charmy, but the monotonality of it made it seem hollow and lifeless, like a computer attempting to emulate someone’s voice. 

“There ya are!” Vector cried, shining his light directly at Charmy. The bee did not shy away from the light or even move to cover his eyes. His expression remained blank as he hovered a few feet away from the other Chaotix members. Vector had evidently not noticed that anything was awry, or so it seemed. 

As Vector moved to approach Charmy, Espio turned to Cream, who was inquisitively surveying the scene. 

“You noticed it too?” he asked Cream. She nodded. 

“Something isn’t right,” he informed her. “Be on your guard. I think that trap Vector mentioned earlier has already been sprung.”

Vector gathered everyone back together, Charmy included, to exchange information. There seemed to be a mismatch between all of their stories. 

“Something weird is going on here,” Espio told Vector. “None of our accounts match up.”

Vector shrugged. “It’s prolly just your imagination, Espio. Let's keep pushin' on ahead. Charmy, you and Cream keep on sticking together. Me n’ Espio will go down our paths on our own and meet up at the end. Any questions?”

Espio was taken aback at how easily Vector had brushed him off. Did he simply not care? Or did he know more than he was letting on? Either way, something had to be done. What that something was, however, Espio had no idea. 

He decided to go along with Vector’s plan for now, brooding as he stepped into his branch of the tunnel ahead. 


	9. Power Play

Cream was nervous. Not because of the engulfing darkness around her, or the branching labyrinth they were lost in, or even because of the upcoming battle. She was nervous because Charmy had not said a single word since they left the central cave. His silence was unnatural, and his calm composure was nothing sort of bizarre. Where had the joking bee she had been travelling with before gone? What happened in the shadows to have changed him like this?

“Umm, Charmy?” Cream asked. She travelled behind him on foot as he hovered ahead, shining his light into the tunnel ahead. 

Charmy said and did nothing in response besides continuing on his current path. Cream was even more creeped out. She continued to speak. 

“Maybe we should report in to Mister Vector,” she commented, unlimbering her radio. To her astonishment, nothing happened when she tried to call out to her comrades. The walkie talkie made no indication that it was even powered on. After attempting to power it on once more, she turned to Charmy. 

“May I please see your radio, Charmy?” she asked politely. “Mine doesn’t seem to be working right.”

Charmy did not turn to look at her, or make any indication at all that he had heard her aside from his abrupt response. 

“The radios are all dead,” he told her bluntly. 

Cream was confused. 

“They’re all dead?” she repeated. 

Charmy continued to speak in his deadpan tone. “The radios are non-functional. There is an EMP field in these tunnels that prevents all non-Eggman made electronics from functioning. We passed through it moments ago.”

Absolutely mystified as to how Charmy would know that information, she drew her flashlight to confirm. Sure enough, both hers and Cheese’s would not power on. 

“Oh… You’re right,” she told him. She and Cheese exchanged a quizzical glance. 

The trio continued in silence for some time. As they made their way through the winding labyrinth, Cream could not shake the feeling that Charmy knew full well where he was going. Something wasn't right. She had noticed him acting strangely ever since they split up. Charmy confidently buzzed ahead, not even pausing at forks in the road. The light in his hand illuminated the tunnel before them. While before there had been wonders hidden in the darkness, as they approached Eggman’s base the darkness only hid jagged rocks and damp stone walls. 

As the sheen from the reflection of Charmy’s light off the slick stone made her squint, it finally dawned on her what was amiss. Her legs felt heavy, forcing her stop walking as a feeling of dread took hold. She forced down a gulp as blood drained from her face. 

“Charmy… if all non-Eggman devices got shut off… how does your flashlight still work?”

Finally, Charmy paused. He hovered in midair for a moment, the hum of his wings filling the cavern. Cream’s heart was hammering so hard that it threatened to burst out of her chest. Cheese huddled closer to her as he quivered with anticipation. The air smelled stagnant and stale. Slowly, Charmy turned to face her. A chill shot down her spine.

He was not holding a light at all. As if it were a mechanical component, Charmy’s palm had opened up to reveal a beam of light shooting out. Cream blinked. Etched onto Charmy’s face was an empty glare, as if he was wearing a mask of himself. His lifeless stare pierced Cream’s very soul. She stumbled backwards and fell to the floor. Even then she continued to scramble on all fours until her back was pressed against the wall. Charmy advanced on her. Their eyes locked for what seemed like an eternity. As Cream gazed into Charmy’s dead eyes, she could not help but notice something buried under their listlessness. The bee’s expression was contorted so minimally that only a true empath would notice, but Cream picked up on it right away. 

It was a distant sorrow, a buried anguish, and a cold bleakness. It was the same robotic sadness she knew all too well. 

As if reacting to her, Charmy’s hand-light was suddenly extinguished. For a moment, his eyes seemed to leave a glow in the air before her, but then those too vanished, leaving Cream and Cheese in pitch darkness. 

****

A low buzzing noise echoed through the catacombs. A dim, flickering light illuminated the walls as it slowly moved along towards its intended quarry. In the middle of it was the real Charmy Bee, terrified out of his mind. In one hand he clutched a lighter, it’s flames dancing in the breeze he created by moving. His other hand was clutched towards his chest, as if attempting to create an illusion of personal safety through the facade of security. 

He glanced about the corridors jerkily, all of his senses on high alert for any danger that he may come across. So far it had been smooth sailing, but he knew that what awaited him in these tunnels was nothing but peril. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed movement. He stopped and wheeled around, but saw nothing. It could have been a shadow from the dancing flames, but it was hard to be sure. He inadvertently hovered backwards towards the wall.

“W-who’s there?” he stammered. “I know you’re here! Quit hiding!”

The last thing Charmy expected was for someone to actually show themselves. To his relief, a familiar face materialized before him. 

“Espio!” he sighed. As if it were a routine for him, he gravitated forward and calmly latched onto Espio’s face, who as usual made no move to yank the bee away. 

Something was awry this time, Charmy instantly knew. It took Espio seven tenths of a second longer than usual for him to brush Charmy off. 

“What’s gotten into ya, Espio?” Charmy cheerfully berated. “It took you longer than usual to brush me off! You’re a slacker!”

Espio said nothing, he simply remained still and observed Charmy as if they had never met before. He wasn’t even blinking. 

_ What is this, a statue of Espio? _ Charmy thought. _ Maybe I should poke him on the side of his head. _

Charmy poked him on the side of his head. Espio slowly and stiffly moved to face him. 

“Greetings, Charmy,” he uttered. The voice belonged to Espio, but Charmy sensed no emotion behind it. At first he had thought nothing of Espio’s strange behavior, but as he spoke it only became more unnerving. 

Espio continued speaking. “You are not supposed to be here. How did you reach this location?”

Charmy raised an eyebrow and pressed his lips together. He had absolutely no clue what was going on. 

“Well,” he began, “me and Cream found you sinking to the bottom of some tiny lake in one of the caves back there. We went to go rescue you, and Cream jumped in to grab you. But you probably knew that much already, huh Espio? Anyway, Vector jumped out of one of the tunnels and tried to scare me, but he missed! I saw him coming from a mile away! Well, not a literal mile. After that, Vector went over to help you and Cream, but…”

He trailed off. There was no response from Espio, a blank expression still etched onto his face. 

Charmy had hoped to incite some reaction from his friend by pausing for effect, but Espio remained still as ever. Disappointed, the bee continued. 

“I thought I saw something in the corner. It was shiny, so I thought it might be… ya know, Metal Sonic. I went to go have another look, but once I got close enough my light wouldn’t turn on at all! I kept slapping the thing, but it wasn’t working! I always told Vector to not buy dollar store flashlights, but he never listens to me. That big dummy!”

Charmy chuckled. Espio did not. 

“So, this is where things get weird. I was about to go back to you guys and ask to borrow one of your lights, but when I turned around, you guys were gone! And not just you guys, the whole room was different. By which I mean there was no room at all. There was just a stone wall behind me. It was pitch dark and I couldn’t really see anything, but lucky for me I had this lighter in my jacket pocket. Heh heh, I got it because I knew those dollar store flashlights weren’t gonna last, and look what happened! I can’t wait to rub that in Vector’s face, heheheh. If it weren’t for this lighter, I don’t even wanna think about what woulda happened. And that's why I’m the smartest Chaotix!”

To Charmy’s dismay, but not to his surprise, Espio had no reaction to his taunt. In fact, he wasn’t reacting to anything at all. It was strange and slightly concerning, but Espio had always been a little weird. Charmy learned to not question his eccentricity. 

“Soooooo,” Charmy continued, carrying the entire conversation. “Does your flashlight work? Mine’s busted, and this lighter is gonna burn out sooner or later.”

Espio calmly spoke. “The lights are non-functional. There is an EMP field in these tunnels that prevents all non-Eggman made electronics from functioning. We passed through it some time ago.”

“Whoa,” Charmy remarked. “How’d you know that? Wait, let me guess. Vector’s ‘detective’s intuition’, right?”

“No,” replied Espio. “The lights are non-functional. There is an EMP field in these tunnels that prevents all non-Eggman made electronics from functioning. This is a fact that we discovered while you were absent.”

“How do you feel, Espio? Charmy asked blurted out of the blue. Finally, an emotion shone on Espio’s face. He was confused. 

“How… do I feel?” he repeated. “I am afraid I do not understand.”

Charmy tugged at his antenna. “You’ve just been awfully quiet. I was just wondering what you’re brooding about these days.”

Espio chose to blatantly ignore Charmy’s query. “Follow me. The path to the exit is open. I will lead you out, and we will launch our attack on the base.”

Without another word, Espio turned and moved out of the light and vanished into the obscurity. Confused, Charmy hurriedly followed him to ensure that he did not lose his friend in the darkness ahead. 

_ Friend, huh? _ he thought to himself. _ This sure doesn’t seem like the friend I know. Espio is weird, but not THIS weird. I wonder if this is the trap that Vector was talking about earlier. _

Cautiously, Charmy approached the aberrant ninja and hovered around his head. Espio just continued to pace forward through the darkness, as if he knew exactly what was ahead. 

_ He did say he knew the way out, but… _

In that moment, Charmy knew that was off about this whole situation. He decided to speak up about it. 

“Espio…” he began. “You said we were going to launch our attack on the base when reached the end of the tunnel, right?”

“Indeed,” Espio replied without delay. 

Discreetly, Charmy ran his hand over his stinger. He gently pricked the tip with his finger, ensuring it was primed. He spoke. 

“Vector’s plan was to sneak in,” he continued. “We were never gonna launch an attack. The real Espio would know that, because he was there when the plan was made. Vector wouldn’t change his mind on a plan like that, I know him! There’s no way you’re the real Espio, you faker!”

Charmy gritted his teeth and surged forward, jabbing his stinger towards the back of Espio’s head.

It only took Espio a split second to respond. Whirling around faster than Charmy had ever seen his friend move, Espio caught the stinger inches from his face. His vice grip was so powerful that Charmy could not break free. The bee struggled to pull himself backward to escape, but Espio swung his hand around, flinging him away. Charmy hit the wall with a dull thud. The lighter clattered to the ground. Wincing, Charmy groped around on the floor trying to find it. The moment he had gotten his hands back on it and lit it up, Espio charged again. Charmy barely dodged in time as Espio landed a powerful kick on the wall where he had been slumped. Back on his feet, Charmy charged forward and attempted to land a sting on Espio again, but he was swatted out of the air. He landed on his feet. There was a rock on the ground nearby that he snatched. When Espio charged again, Charmy chucked the rock directly at him. Espio’s hand shot out to catch the rock, but by the time he had realized his mistake, Charmy’s stinger was already buried into his chest. Or it would have been, had Charmy’s stinger been able to penetrate his skin. 

“Wha!?” cried Charmy. “Why can’t I sting you? Your scales aren’t hard enough to block my stinger! The only thing I can’t sting through is-”

Espio cut his words off with a vicious right hook that sent Charmy reeling, followed by a violent side kick that sent him careening down the tunnel. As the bee spun out of control, he realized this may be his one chance to escape. Anyone he could find may be able to help him fend off the powerful fake Espio. Using the momentum he had generated from getting flung, he contorted his body into a gliding position and flew as fast as he could down the tunnel. Charmy did not look back, but if he had he would have seen Espio make no move to follow. He simply remained behind, watching his fleeing target getting ready to fall directly into his trap. 

****

Vector was very, very tired. 

After splitting up with the others, his flashlight had burned out. He recalled what Charmy had told him about how buying cheap items meant they were cheaply made and cursed his own lack of foresight. Luckily for him, his car keyring had attached to it one of those crank-powered keychain flashlights that you could spin the crank on to make the light shine. He panted as he continued to crank away. The muscles in his arms were burning. 

To distract himself from the pain, he pondered the case thus far. Although he knew a trap awaited them in this labyrinth, the only way to find out what it entailed was to spring it. Contrary to what Espio and the others thought, this was not an act of recklessness. Rather, if things in the caves played out how he expected them to, the case was as good as solved. 

“Vector?”

The sound of his name being called brought him back to reality. Espio was standing before him, a little ways down the passageway. To his right was the tunnel he had just emerged from. 

“Oh, hey Espio,” Vector replied. He began to approach, but Espio took a defensive pose. “Stay back.”

Vector stopped on a dime and held his hands above his head, but he was not fearful. 

“Lemme guess,” Vector told him. “You want me to prove that I’m the real Vector.”

Espio nodded. “Tell me something that only the real Vector would know.”

After a moment of thought, Vector spoke. “Last October, me n' you went out and got hibachi with our boys Knuckles and Mighty. You got one glass of sake too many, and before we knew it you we’re spillin’ your darkest secrets, like how you have a huge crush on-”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Espio cut in, lowering his guard. “I don’t want to relive the sake incident.”

Vector chortled. “Knuckles sure had a strong opinion on that, didn't he?”

“Yes, he certainly did,” Espio affirmed. “And for your information, Knuckles and Mighty were both there. For all I know, you could be Mighty. That’s not something that ONLY you would know.”

“It’s something the doctor wouldn’t know,” Vector told him seriously. 

“I know,” Espio said flatly. “It was a joke.”

“Oh,” responded Vector. 

A silence ensued. Espio cautiously approached his friend. When he was standing inches away from Vector, he hesitantly reached out and laid his open palm on the center of Vector’s chest. 

“Whoa,” Vector said. “At least take me out to dinner first!”

Espio expression remained serious. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t a figment of my imagination. I thought I was going crazy when you told me earlier that you had just arrived. Does this mean there are imposters?”

Vector grimly nodded. “That’s one way to say it.”

“Then how would you say it?” Espio asked. 

The croc did not have a chance to respond because a bee moving at an extremely high velocity collided with his face. 

“Ah, what the hell!?” Vector yelped as he toppled over. Ricocheting off of Vector’s face, Charmy flew headlong into a wall and sank to the ground. The lighter he was carrying toppled out of his hand. 

“Who’s there?” Charmy demanded through the pitch darkness. There was sheer terror in his voice. 

Cradling his head, Vector turned in the direction of Charmy’s voice. 

“It’s me, ya nitwit!” he growled, his voice echoing through the labyrinth. “Nearly knocked my head off, ya did.”

Charmy’s voice was barely a whisper. 

“Vector?” he breathed. “Are you… the real one?”

There was a soft patter of hands slapping against stone as Charmy fumbled to find the lighter he had dropped. A moment later, there was a low glow that illuminated the youngest Chaotix member and his boss. The bee was on his hands and knees, looking absolutely winded. There were dark circles around his panicked, wide eyes and his antennae were laid flat against his head. 

In an attempt to assuage Charmy’s fear, Vector smiled gently. “Yeah, I’m the real one.”

Despite the toothy smile looking more like a sinister grin, Charmy felt more at ease. 

“Charmy, is that you?” Espio’s voice asked through the darkness. 

Charmy’s muscles stiffened up upon hearing the chameleon’s voice. Although it was immediately obvious to Charmy that this voice had emotion behind it, he could not help but panic a little bit. Noticing his friend’s distress, Vector held his hand out in an attempt to assuage his friend. It worked. 

“You’re the real Espio, right?” Charmy called out. Espio nodded, and then realized that nobody could see his head nodding. He verbally affirmed that he was indeed the real Espio. 

Vector clambered back to his feet, scooping up Charmy in one hand and depositing him on his broad shoulders. Charmy ignited his lighter, illuminating Espio standing nearby. His eyes narrowed in response to the sudden light, however dim, and he appeared to be standing in a defensive, combat-ready stance. Upon seeing Vector and Charmy, his arms dropped to his sides. 

“Seems we all managed to meet back up in one piece,” Espio observed. “I’m assuming there was a point to all this, Vector?”

Vector grinned. The dancing flame partially illuminated his face as it loomed through the darkness, and the shadows of his features seemed to move on their own. 

“If my hunch is correct,” he began, “ this case will be as good as solved once we take down Eggman.”

“The biggest problem is actually taking down Eggman,” Espio pointed out.

“Don’t worry,” Vector replied, waving his hand. “I have a plan.”


	10. Downfall

The three Chaotix had wandered the tunnels in silence for what seemed like hours. Had it not been for Charmy’s forethought to bring a lighter, they might have been lost for an eternity. 

Before concluding their earlier meeting, the Chaotix had decided to launch a search for Cream, sticking together this time. While Cream could have been anywhere in the caves, they had determined that staying together would minimize the risk of a repeat of events from earlier. After their information exchange had been completed, nobody spoke. All the while, Vector seemed to be in deep thought. A clear look of apprehension showed on his face, but upon looking deeper, there was a wistfulness buried beneath it. Both Espio and Charmy had taken notice, but decided against commenting. Vector would surely share his deductions once the time was right. He was a big fan of dramatic build ups.

Suddenly, Espio, who was leading the group, held up an open palm, silently ordering everyone to stop. Vector and Charmy stopped on a dime. With the sounds of their footsteps no longer audible, a softer sound rose to the forefront. 

They could hear a gentle sobbing nearby, echoing throughout the caverns. It had to be Cream. With a silent nod of confirmation from Vector, the trio split up and searched the nearby area for any sign of the young rabbit. 

It was Espio who located her first. He summoned everyone to his location. When they arrived, they found Cream huddled alone in the darkness, hugging her knees. Once the dim light reached her, she perked up, barely daring to believe that her friends had finally found her. Tears still streamed down her face, but her expression turned to one of joy as she saw her comrades approaching, surrounded by a glowing haze of light. 

“Are you alright, Cream?” Espio asked, dropping to one knee. 

“Oh Espio, I was so scared,” she told him, her voice still quivering. “After we split up earlier, Charmy was acting weird. But it wasn’t Charmy that was with me, it was a fake version! Once I found out, he left me all alone in the dark, and I didn’t know what to do…”

Her voice trailed off. Charmy poked his head around Espio. 

“That definitely wasn’t me!” he hooted. “I haven’t seen you since you dove into the lake!”

“Our suspicions were correct then,” Espio concluded. “There are fake versions of us here, likely created by Eggman himself. This must be the trap that Vector was talking about earlier.”

There was no immediate snarky response from Vector. Concerned, Espio looked behind him. Barely visible at the edge of the light’s reach, Vector stood a distance away from them. His arms were crossed, and his expression conveyed an emotion that Espio could not quite put his finger on. The reflection of the dancing flame illuminated Vector’s eyes as he surveyed the situation before them coldly. His eyes were narrowed with suspicion. Ordinarily, he would have been overjoyed to have rescued Cream. Espio thought that his behavior was suspiciously robotic, but he had already proven that he was the true Vector. 

Upon noticing that Espio was looking in his direction, Vector broke into a toothy grin and sauntered forward to meet the others. 

Espio could read Vector like a book, and he always took pride in that. The croc was known for wearing his emotions on his sleeve. He had known right away that the fake Vector he previously encountered was extremely out of character. The relationship between him and Cream was one that he was extremely familiar with too, and he could tell when Vector was genuinely happy to see her. 

This was not one of those moments. 

“Well, I guess we evaded the trap!” Charmy exclaimed, breaking Espio out of his thoughts. Vector brushed right by him and approached Cream. 

“We ain’t outta the fire yet,” he warned. Standing over Cream, he reached out a hand to help her to her feet. The shadow he cast from the light behind him engulfed Cream in near darkness. Outwardly, he was beaming at her, however the smile did not carry to his eyes. As he looked down upon the rabbit before him, there was a different emotion behind the smile. 

Cream did not seem to notice this at all. Vector pulled her to her feet and patted her head.

“Good to see you’re safe,” he told her. 

“Thank you for coming to find me, Vector!” she replied with a bow. Espio and Charmy exchanged a glance. They had both noticed that something was off, but could not put their finger on what it was. The entire interaction between Vector and Cream rang hollow, as if they were meeting for the first time. His statement sounded insincere, and hers sounded forced. Had something happened between the two of them?

This time, it was Cream who snapped them out of their thoughts. “Well, shall we get going?”

She walked between all three members and stepped in front of them, facing into the dark depths of the cave. Slowly, she turned. There was a moment of silence as they all stared at Cream. Her elongated shadow seemed to be crawling up the wall next to her, and half of her face remained shrouded in darkness. Their own breathing was the only sound they could hear, not even the usual ringing of silence in their ears. It threatened to drive Espio mad. 

Charmy spoke up. “Uh, we still don’t know the way out, do we?”

A grin spread across Cream’s face. The lighting made her look sinister, despite her sanguine expression. 

“Now that we’re all together, I’m sure we can figure something out,” she said. “After all, haven’t we explored most of the caves by now? Vector, you’re super smart! I bet you’ve thought of something!”

He nodded once. “I sure have. Follow me, boys and girls.”

****

The caves wound on with seemingly no end in sight. Charmy held the rapidly dimming lighter out in front of him as he drifted near Vector’s shoulders. Behind him strode Cream, flanked by Espio. Nobody had spoken a word since they left the cavern that Cream was found in. 

While Vector was acting overly serious, Cream was almost flippant. She skipped along with a spring in her step, as if she were en route to meet up with a friend for a picnic. She hummed an unfamiliar melody under her breath. There did not seem to be a care in the world present in her mind, even given the scenario. This was a stark contrast to how she had been minutes ago. Espio had never known Cream to be an austere person, even if she could be overly formal at times. However, even Charmy seemed to be falling victim to the oppressive atmosphere. Espio could not help but wonder why she was acting so carefree all of a sudden. Surely being rescued did not placate her this much. 

Vector, meanwhile, was the complete opposite. On any other day, getting him to stop talking would be a monumental task. For some reason he led the group along deliberately and silently. Had it not been for the fact that Vector confirmed that he was the real one, Espio would have assumed he was a fake. There was something else bothering him, Espio was certain. His shift in behavior could be traced back to the moment that they had finally located Cream. Rather than rushing to her side, he had opted to hang back in the darkness, surveying the scene. The only logical conclusion Espio could come to was that something about their finding of Cream had triggered a red flag in Vector’s mind. 

_ Maybe they had a falling out? _Espio thought. He shook his head. The bond between Cream and Vector was forged too strong; it would take a gargantuan force to sever it that quickly. And besides, he was with them the whole time.

A number of possible scenarios cycled through Espio’s brain, but none of his theories held up. 

He stole a glance to his left at Cream, but when he did his heart jumped into his throat. 

Cream’s gaze was trained directly on him. The same playful smile was etched across her face, but something was askew. Her grin was unnaturally wide, and her unblinking eyes bore directly into his soul. Gone was the good-natured aura that was there before, replaced by one of animosity. Her features seemed to be glazed over, as if someone had doctored an image of her except on her real self. A chill shot down Espio’s spine. 

“Is something the matter, Espio?” she calmly inquired. Her visage remained unchanged. 

Espio broke his gaze away. “No, it’s nothing.”

There was a commotion in front of them. Charmy was pointing at something ahead. 

“Look, guys!” he cried. “There’s light ahead! It’s the end of the tunnel!”

Charmy’s effervescent squealing temporarily distracted Espio, but something was still not right. Something in the back of his mind nagged at him, telling him to not let his guard down just yet. 

Before he could speak, Vector stopped in his tracks. Cream, who was following immediately behind him, stopped on a dime as well. Her reflexes were nearly instantaneous. After a moment, Espio slowed to a halt as well. Charmy, noticing that nobody was following him, spun back around. 

“Uh, guys?” he said. “Exit’s over there. Come on, let’s go beat that bad egg into a pulp!”

Vector swiftly held up a hand to silence Charmy, who immediately clammed up. The light against his back silhouetted him against the cave entrance. Espio leaned in closer to the group as Vector wheeled to address his teammates. 

“What’s the matter, Vector?” he inquired. 

Vector ignored him. Instead, he addressed Cream. “Where’s Cheese?”

Espio blinked. Now that he mentioned it, there had been no sign of the chao at all since she was found in the cavern. It wasn’t like Cream to leave her best friend behind. Cream’s response surprised him. 

“Oh, he went home,” she informed Vector, still smiling innocently. “He was too scared in the dark, and wanted to go back the way we came.”

“Is that so?” Vector said, nodding skeptically. “Well then, before we get outta here, let’s go over the plan one more time.”

Everyone huddled in closer for one of Vector’s famous mission briefings. 

He spoke slowly and deliberately. “We finally made it through the caves, with all of us in one piece. We managed to overcome the trap Eggman laid for us, or so it seems…”

His voice trailed off. Espio and Charmy exchanged another glance, this time one of apprehension. 

Vector took a deep breath and continued. “The trap was fake robots versions of us, one for me, Espio, and Charmy. Eggman tried to use em to back us into a corner and then attack, but we saw right through that. If all of our stories match up, a fake version of me tried to drown Espio, a fake Charmy tried to trap Cream, and a fake Espio tried to attack Charmy. But, what’s missin’ from that picture of Eggman’s plan?”

There was a dense pause. Cream’s smile began to fade into a frown. 

“Nobody?” Vector continued. “Well, I’ll tell ya. I wasn’t attacked once. Strange, isn’t it?”

Finally, Espio realized what was off about the whole picture. A fake of each of them, all going to attack one another. But only one of them did not have a robot version, and one of them was not attacked. 

_ But, that would imply… _

Espio’s eyes widened. 

“You don’t mean-” he began. 

Vector cut him off. “Yeah, shoddy plan on Eggman’s part, right? Well, let’s think back a little to what he said. There’s someone else behind this plan, someone with actual brains they can put to use. With her in the picture, plan’s a lot less shoddy. There’s a back up plan. But Eggman’s mastermind made one crucial mistake: she underestimated me.”

Cream was no longer grinning. 

“There ain’t three robotic fakes of us. If there were, they’d all be here with us right now. We'd be up to our necks fightin' em. At the very least, they wouldn’t have attacked one by one. Power in numbers, remember? If they really wanted us down for the count, we woulda each been ambushed by two of the others. No, there’s only one faker around here.”

Vector turned to face Cream directly. He extended his arm and held his palm in front of her. 

“Lemme see that Chaos Emerald, Cream.”

No words were spoken. Cream glared at Vector in dead silence. Espio and Charmy looked on with bated breath. They hoped with whatever hope they could muster that Cream would cough up her emerald and that Vector was wrong, and that they would laugh it all off and defeat Eggman together. But their hope was in vain. 

Vector grinned at Cream’s prolonged silence. It was not a warm grin of benevolence, though. In the dim light from the dying flame, Vector’s imposing snarl loomed out of the darkness and looked down upon Cream’s defiant face. He reared up to his full height, towering over her. 

"No emerald, eh?" he growled. "Of course ya don't have it. Yer not the real Cream." 

"What?!" Charmy cried. "But… she seems so real! Not fake at all!" 

"Of course," Espio muttered. "This has to be the fake Cream. But how did Eggman get her data so perfectly, yet made ours so badly?" 

"You guys need to listen better," Vector growled, not taking his eyes off Cream. "There's only one fake runnin’ around, not four. And that fake has all of our data, but the only one he has a perfect carbon copy of is Cream’s. Ain’t that right... Metal Sonic?" 

His last words were addressed directly at the fake Cream. She grinned again, this time a contorted grin of malice. Charmy's eyes widened in fear as he stumbled backwards, and Espio took a defensive stance. 

"Metal Sonic," mumbled Espio, their nemesis unveiled. 

"Metal Sonic?" Charmy yelped in reply. 

Before their startled eyes, the fake Cream's form began to shift. With a low hum, Metal Sonic cycled through the appearance of Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Blaze, Silver, Eggman, Big, Orbot, Cubot, Vanilla, Vector, Espio, and Charmy, and then through the cycle again. Each form blurred into the next, until he was shifting too fast for the naked eye to see. Through the shimmer of him changing appearances, Metal Sonic's true form soon shone through. As quickly as it had begun, the shifting abruptly stopped and settled on Metal Sonic's true form, his menacing eyes piercing the darkness. Metal Sonic stood in a battle pose between the three startled Chaotix and the mouth of the cave, blocking them off from the exit. A gust of wind swept through the tunnel, and their battle began. 


	11. Metallic Madness

Espio lurched forward first. In the blink of an eye he had drawn three ninja stars and thrown them with pinpoint accuracy from between his fingers. They each deflected off of Metal Sonic’s armor with a clank. This provided the distraction Espio needed to slide between Metal’s gaping legs and pounce, delivering a roundhouse kick to his back. Metal Sonic stumbled forward, but used the momentum to swivel around and issue an open handed slap across Espio’s face. The chameleon hit the ground hard. Before Metal Sonic could make another move, Vector hoisted the robot above his head and whipped him against the cave wall with a metallic thud. Vector helped Espio to his feet, but a rocket powered punch from Metal Sonic was already heading straight for his face. Before it could connect, Charmy soared into Metal’s side, knocking his punch off course. As Metal Sonic’s swing met only air, Vector brought both of his fists down together on the villain’s exposed back, smashing him into the ground. In an attempt to deliver a finishing blow, Vector threw his weight behind a second punch. His fist left a crater in the ground. In the blink of an eye, Metal Sonic had rolled out of the way. The bot sprang back to his feet. Espio curled into a ball for a spindash, which Metal Sonic mimicked. The two met partway, each of their spin dashes nullifying the other. They were both flung backwards. Metal skidded to a halt on his feet, ready for battle, while Espio landed less gracefully and more painfully. 

Teaming up for an assault while Espio was down, Vector gathered Charmy in his palm. He spun twice and hurled Charmy directly at Metal Sonic, stinger first. This time, the stinger pierced Metal Sonic’s steel plating, but the bot did not seem fazed. Ripping Charmy out of his chest only seemed to strengthen him. His eyes glowed a brighter red than before as he returned the bee to the sender, toppling both Vector and Charmy. 

Metal Sonic did not have a chance to follow up, as Espio had sprung back to his feet and jumped into action. He and Metal Sonic swiftly exchanged blows. Metal swung his arm, which Espio blocked with his own wrist before delivering a punch to the robot’s midsection. The punches dealt by Espio seemed to hurt him more than they did Metal Sonic, though. Their first mistake had been attempting to use brute force against an armored robot, something Espio quickly realized. He backed off, regrouping with Vector and Charmy for a full team attack. 

Vector and Espio each grasped one of Charmy’s legs, and he took off to the air above Metal Sonic’s head with his teammates in tow. At the apex of their flight, Vector yanked himself into the air with a grunt. He grabbed Espio in one hand and Charmy in the other. Espio curled into a deadly sphere, while Charmy readied his stinger once more. Vector used the momentum to spin in midair and hurl both of them at their adversary. Espio struck first, the speed of him curled into a ball knocking Metal off his feet and damaging his exterior. Next, Charmy’s stinger dug deep into Metal’s armor, presumably dealing a blow to his internal circuits. Finally, Vector landed behind Metal Sonic and lashed out in a cruel punch to Metal Sonic’s back. The robot careened into the wall of the cave with a sickening thud. All three Chaotix stood over their adversary, who had sunk to the ground. Electricity crackled around him and coursed through his body, as if his inner circuitry was malfunctioning. Smoke rose from like he was a damaged machine, which he was. Believing they had won, the three detectives lowered their guard. 

That was their second mistake. 

Faster than anyone could even see, Metal Sonic flickered and suddenly all three Chaotix were on the ground. Metal had dealt a sweeping kick and darted through their ranks, breaking their formation. Lying prone on the ground, they watched Metal Sonic tower over them. The electrical impulses flowing through him seemed to make him glow in the darkness. His metallic exterior was dented and cracked in places, but he seemed to exude raw power. 

Six of the Chaos Emeralds materialized around him. Metal Sonic seemed to be feeding off of their energy as he was lifted into the air, his arms outstretched to either side of him. An aura of Chaos energy surrounded him, and the Chaotix shielded their eyes as the brilliance of the energy threatened to blind them. Dust was swept up around his feet in a vortex, and the wind was turbulent enough to render them immobile. Charmy watched as all six emeralds seemed to be absorbed into their enemy, buffing him up beyond all reckoning. Out of the corner of his eye, Charmy also saw Espio seemingly vanish into thin air. 

When the vortex died down, Metal Sonic’s armor seemed to be in pristine condition again, and he exuded a dull glow of power like that of the Chaos Emeralds themselves. His arrogant eyes looked down on his foes, who had finally scrambled to their feet. 

Metal Sonic noticed moments too late that one of them was missing. 

Something sharp slammed into his back and he was shot to the ground. Engaging his heat sensors allowed him to see the camouflaged chameleon shooting towards him, reeling back for a follow-up kick. 

Surely Espio had seen this coming. Metal Sonic knew exactly where he was, and channeling the power of the Chaos Emeralds, kicked him like a soccer ball. With a crash, Espio collided with the stone wall and demolished it, followed by a wisp of excess Chaos Energy left by Metal Sonic. He hit the ground hard, turning visible as fell into a daze. As Espio collapsed, Metal Sonic turned to face his other two opponents. He only hoped that they would prove to be as worthy rivals as Espio had. 

“Crap!” Vector cried when he witnessed Espio’s defeat. “He’s finally usin’ the power of the Emeralds!”

“What do we do, Vector?” Charmy yelled over the sound of the large discharge of energy. The force of the pulsing energy radiating from Metal Sonic threatened to blow him off course. 

Vector snarled and cracked his knuckles. 

“C’mon, Charmy,” he growled. “It’s time to kick ass and take names, and we’re fresh outta names.”

“That made no sense,” Charmy replied with a grin, readying his stinger. 

Choosing to ignore Charmy, Vector confronted their attacker. Metal Sonic surveyed them coldly. He calmly calculated the quickest way to defeat them and move on. These nuisances proved to be powerful opponents for him, but with the power of the emeralds on his side they had no chance of victory. 

Unleashing a battle cry, Vector surged forward. He swung a few punches at Metal Sonic, which he deftly avoided. To evade the final blow, he teleported away and reappeared instantaneously behind Vector’s back. 

“That’s Chaos Control!” Vector warned. 

Before Metal Sonic could land another blow on Vector, he was swatted to the side by Charmy, who had crept up from behind with a small stone in his hand. Metal Sonic stumbled to his side but instantly recovered. The power of the Chaos Energy seemed to be almost too much for his form to handle, as wisps of power were now billowing from his body like smoke.

Metal Sonic hulked forward and swung a rocket-powered punch at Charmy, who barely evaded on time. Vector grabbed onto Metal’s outstretched arm at just the right moment and yanked. He swung Metal Sonic over his head. At the apex of his arc, however, Metal Sonic unleashed a blast of energy from his hand directly into Vector’s head. Vector’s grip loosened as he yelped in pain and surprise. Metal Sonic broke free mid-swing and gently tumbled into the wall, which he kicked back off of. By the time Vector noticed what Metal Sonic had done, it was too late. Another blast of energy struck him, powerful enough to burn the skin off of someone who didn’t have scales. Vector stumbled backwards, shielding his vulnerable eyes. This gave Metal Sonic just enough time to release a Chaos-powered kick to Vector’s midsection.

Time seemed to stop for a moment and Charmy could see with extreme clarity the pain and surprise etched onto Vector’s face, as well as the droplets of saliva flying out of his mouth from having the breath knocked out of him. The moment ended as quickly as it had begun. The kick sent Vector into the cave wall opposite from the one Espio had broken down.

The cavern shook like thunder when Vector hit the wall hard and slumped to the ground. He struggled to clear the ringing in his ears and the haze in his vision as Metal Sonic levitated closer. The robot’s sharp metallic hand hoisted Vector by the neck, and the croc’s limbs flailed meekly as he struggled to fight back. Charmy could do nothing but watch in horror as Metal Sonic flung Vector into the air behind him. With the accuracy of an expert marksman, he fired a spear of Chaos energy at him, which hit its mark in midair. This seemed to suspend Vector’s flight for a moment as Metal Sonic teleported into the air beside him and delivered a sharp downwards kick. Before Vector could hit the ground, Metal Sonic had teleported next to him once again and delivered a vicious punch to send Vector sailing sideways through the air. Finally, Metal Sonic teleported over him and delivered one final two handed blow. It was timed impeccably and happened faster than the blink of an eye. Vector hit the ground hard and he did not stir. 

Hovering over his defeated allies, Charmy found himself faced with a dilemma. Although, it was a less of a dilemma and more of a gargantuan task. If the two most powerful Chaotix members could be taken out so easily, what chance did he stand? With the power of the emeralds at his disposal, Metal Sonic was nearly unstoppable. There were no openings he could slip through, no loopholes he could use, and no way to worm his way out of the inevitable. Fighting head on would only get Charmy swatted like a fly. The way he saw it, he had two options: surrender and let the inevitable take its course, or go out fighting. 

Charmy didn’t even have to think about his decision. 

“Nobody messes with Team Chaotix and gets away with it!” he shouted, rocketing towards his foe. Faster than the eye could see, Metal Sonic shot forward as well. To his surprise, he did not encounter the bee. 

“Hey, poopy head!” Charmy cried. The voice came from behind Metal Sonic. He stopped and wheeled around, only to be immediately met with the impact of a slab of stone to his face. The robot veered off course, and Charmy kept on him. He battered the robot with the rock from all angles faster than Metal Sonic could keep up with. Before he had the chance to react, another whack came. 

These blows were a nuisance at best. 

Charmy brought the stone down once more, but it was stopped short. 

“Wha?” Charmy exclaimed, poking his head around to look at his opponent. He was greeted with a powerful slap that sent him tumbling off course. 

As Charmy righted himself and shook his head, he saw the hazy form of Metal Sonic levitating closer. His spiked, metallic fingers crushed the rock to pebbles in his hand.

_ Oh crap,_ Charmy thought. _ That was pretty much my only idea. _

He considered for a moment diving down to awaken Vector or Espio, but with the power of Chaos Control on his side, Metal Sonic would be there first. Another idea was to lead Metal Sonic on a chase until Espio and Vector woke back up and were able to go another round. He could already see Espio beginning to stir. His final option was to fight head on, and Charmy did not like his chances. 

Charmy decided to go with the second option. 

“WAAAAAAAAH!” he cried, turning tail and fleeing. Metal Sonic activated his rocket thrusters to close the gap, but Charmy dove out of his path at the last moment. 

“Too slow, ya bucket of bolts!” he taunted. “I bet you can’t catch me!”

He made a funny face at Metal Sonic at took off again. Emotionlessly, Metal Sonic attempted to boost after him. This time, he was ready for Charmy to dodge, but he caught only air. He swivelled around to see Charmy floating behind him, making the same funny face. The farce continued for some time, and Metal Sonic grew frustrated. He could not afford to play around any longer, as he could already see the other Chaotix members beginning to awaken. He blinked out of existence for a moment and reappeared directly behind Charmy. This was the opening the bee had been waiting for. Before Metal Sonic could land a blow, Charmy dove to the ground. There was a broken stalactite that he picked up, wielding it like a baseball bat as he stood on the ground. 

“I could do this all day!” he jeered, giggling. Metal Sonic slot a blast of pure energy at Charmy, who deftly dodged once again. Vector was nearby, and to his relief, had broken free of his momentary daze. Metal Sonic let out a computerized howl of rage. Before long, all three Chaotix had regrouped in the center of the room. 

Metal Sonic began to crackle with a powerful hue, and particles of energy seemed to be drawn to him from all corners of the room. He radiated a bright light and pulled all his limbs inward, as if preparing blast. 

“What’s he doing?” Espio inquired, assuming a defensive stance. 

“Hit the deck!” Vector ordered. “He’s gonna blow!”

Before any of the Chaotix had a chance to react, a blast of sonic energy surged from Metal Sonic like a nova, reaching every corner of the room. It was immediately followed by a low noise that sounded like a sonic boom. All three Chaotix were thrown off their feet like ragdolls and hit the ground hard. Before they could even climb back to their feet, another blast was unleashed like he was a pulsating star dispelling its energy. Their ears rang like telephones. 

“Ergh,” Espio grunted. “It’s… too powerful…”

“I can’t… get up…” Charmy moaned. Although he had good hearing, his antennae could pick up vibrations as a supplement to his normal hearing, which made this scenario all the worse for him. Espio was lucky that chameleons have below-average hearing. 

Vector gritted his teeth and summoned all the willpower he had to rise back to his feet, only to be toppled moments later by the next burst. The walls around them began to crack and crumble. 

“He’s gonna bring the whole place down at this rate!” Espio yelled. “We need to pull back and re-group!”

“Not without Cream!” Vector replied. Another blast shook the cavern, widening the cracks. 

“And how do you propose we find her?” grilled Espio after the shock of the blast had subsided. 

“We gotta find an opening to get outta here first!” Vector said. 

There were no openings. If they took two steps, another blast would sweep them off their feet. Any attempt to close in and attack would be thwarted swiftly. Espio and Vector exchanged a tenuous glance, only to wince as another burst of energy swept over them. 

They closed their eyes, awaiting the next discharge as they tried to think of a way out. But the next pulse did not come. They waited and waited, but it did not come. Slowly, they opened their eyes. 

“Is… is it over?” Vector asked. He looked to his sides in confusion, then glanced at Metal Sonic. Or, he would have if Metal Sonic was still there. Instead, he was standing back on the ground in a battle-ready pose. He was facing off with none other than Charmy. 

“Charmy?” Vector uttered. “How? Wha?”

Charmy grinned and pointed to his ears. There were small yellow pieces of foam stuffed in, sticking out like another pair of goofy antennas. 

He was wearing earplugs. 

It was Espio who noticed the stactite Charmy had been carrying earlier. It was shattered on the ground around Metal Sonic, with the base of it still being clutched in Charmy’s hand. Based on context clues, he deduced that Charmy had used it to launch a surprise attack on their enemy and floor him. 

“I- H- Wh- Ch-” Vector sputtered, his mouth agape. 

Finally, his words came. 

“WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT?”


	12. Rise Up, Young Rabbit

All three Chaotix were at a silent standoff with their robotic adversary. Standing still as stagnant air, Metal Sonic appraised the opponents before him with a cold, calculating glare. It was a miracle that they had managed to hold their own this long against an enemy of such intense power. Battered and bruised, they rose time after time because victory was the only outcome they would accept. But they were starting to run out of ideas. 

“We need to go on the offensive,” Espio informed his comrades, his gaze not swaying from Metal Sonic. 

Vector cracked his knuckles. “I agree, but we need an opening. We’ll stay on the defensive until he slips up.”

“Uh, he’s a robot,” Charmy pointed out. “Robots don’t mess up if they aren’t programmed to.”

Espio agreed. All of Metal Sonic’s moves were precise and calculated. Finding an opening would not be easy. 

“Metal Sonic’s more than just a mindless robot,” Vector informed them all. “There’s something else in there.”

There was a momentary silence. 

“Care to explain that?” Espio asked. 

“No,” Vector replied shortly. 

There was another silence. 

“Well, alright then,” Charmy said. “What’s the plan, boss?”

Vector chuckled under his breath. “There ain’t a plan this time, boys. We’re just gonna have to hit him with all we’ve got again and again until we win.”

Leading the charge, Vector shot forward. Espio and Charmy followed behind him. In unison, all three reared up for an attack against their unmoving enemy. 

One blow was all it took. 

In one swing of Metal Sonic’s powerful arm, the planet’s last hope fell. Vector, Espio, and Charmy were sent sprawling. They could almost feel the energy being drained out of them as their bodies began to reach their breaking point. All of them struggled to climb back to their feet, while Metal Sonic had not even moved from the spot he was in. 

“Come on boys…” Vector groaned, his voice wavering. “We ain’t done here…”

Despite all the energy he was putting into his arms, they were not cooperating with him. Putting all of his strength into one final push, he was barely able to lift himself off the ground and onto all fours. Looking to his left and right, he noticed that Espio and Charmy were undergoing similar struggles. His head throbbed and his ears rang like a telephone. 

There was a whoosh of energy in front of him as Metal Sonic gathered his power for one final attack. 

_ Crap_, Vector thought. _ This is it, ain’t it? We lost. _

He closed his eyes as Metal Sonic dashed forward to finish them off. The only thought on his mind was the hope that Cream would be able to make it out safe as he braced for what may very well be his death. 

But it never came. 

Instead, he heard a familiar voice that he never expected to hear again. 

“Chaos control!” the confident, high pitched voice roared from behind him. There was a momentary flash of bright light, which was over as quickly as it had begun. 

Exerting as much energy as he could muster, Vector reared his head up. 

Standing between him and Metal Sonic was the real Cream the Rabbit. 

In her left hand, she clenched the green Chaos Emerald, glistening with a light like that of the sun. Her right arm was outstretched in front of her, with her palm held directly in front of Metal Sonic’s face. Flanking her was Cheese the Chao. Cream’s expression was akin to that of a stern mother berating her child. 

Vector could scarcely believe his eyes. Questions swirled in his head. Had she single handedly stopped Metal Sonic in his tracks, simply by putting herself between him and his prey? She had definitely used Chaos Control to control time and move into Metal Sonic’s path, who stopped on a dime the moment he saw her. Then he recalled: Metal Sonic would not attack Cream. The only question that floated through Vector's head was... why? 

“C-cream?” Charmy’s weakened voice rang out from nearby. 

“She used Chaos Control…?” an astonished voice that belonged to Espio remarked. 

Cream did not seem to hear either of them. All of her attention was focused on Metal Sonic in front of her, his apathetic eyes staring directly at Cream. Vector tensed up, fearing what could happen. In a one on one battle, Cream stood no chance against Metal Sonic, even with a Chaos Enerald. 

What happened next was the absolute last thing Vector expected. 

“Metal Sonic, you’ve been really bad!” Cream reprimanded. Metal Sonic seemed to shrink away, minutely enough that someone without a keen eye would never notice. Vector, however, was trained to notice these things. 

Cream continued to chastise Metal Sonic. 

“How could you attack our friends like this, Metal Sonic? You’re hurting them! And you’ll hurt me too if you do that. I know you don’t want that”

_ OUR friends?_ Vector thought. _ Since when was Metal Sonic our friend? _

“I know you’re better than this, Metal Sonic! Deep down inside, you don’t want to follow your orders and you don’t actually care to hurt anyone, do you?”

Metal Sonic did not reply, nor did he make any indication that he had even heard her. Yet, he still was being kept at bay by Cream, which both amazed and baffled her friends. 

“Uh, Cream?” Espio asked. “What are you doing?”

She continued to ignore her teammates. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she spoke. 

“When I woke you up at Miss Amy’s house, you took a part of me into you. But I could also feel what you felt! I’ve… never felt someone so deeply empty and lonely as you. That sadness stayed with me. I know that you hate Eggman for creating you, and how you think you have no business existing, and that the only thing you could be good for is doing what Eggman says, but you’re wrong! You’re your own person, Metal Sonic, and you deserve to exist just as much as the rest of us. You don’t have to follow Eggman’s orders anymore! You can be free too!”

Metal Sonic said nothing, but his gaze became downcast. Vector’s mind was spinning as everything began to come together. Cream held within her a power more powerful than anyone else there could ever hope to wield: unconditional compassion and love. Where the Chaotix had failed to stop Metal Sonic with brute force, Cream was succeeding with nothing but her words. 

It was then that Vector realized why Metal Sonic could not attack Cream. He had known that Metal Sonic would not attack her, a theory confirmed by the fact that the fake Charmy did not make any aggressive move on her while they were alone. Now, he understood why. When she awoke Metal Sonic by channeling her energy into him, a part of her went with it. Not only did Metal Sonic copy her exact data, he also copied some of the compassion that only Cream had. Her very essence became a part of Metal Sonic. The reason he did not attack was because he could not attack. Every fiber of his being prevented him from doing so, even if he was ordered to. Metal Sonic felt exactly what Cream felt, just as she could feel his inner self in turn. 

_ Clever girl, _Vector thought with a smirk. _ She must have figured all that out on her own. _

Cream lowered her outstretched hand, which fell limply at her side. She exhaled deeply. 

“I know you’re programmed to obey Eggman, but you don’t have to give in!” she declared. 

Metal Sonic still did not make a move. Cautiously, Cream took a step forward, and then another one. Once more, she extended her arm. She laid her hand on his shoulder, this time voluntarily, and continued to speak. “We can help you, Metal Sonic. Please, come with us. You don’t have to be alone anymore.”

The glow around Metal Sonic began to fade away as he forced his power back. The Chaos Energy he had absorbed was subsiding. As Metal Sonic willed it so, the six emeralds materialized around him once again. This time, they flickered out of existence and teleported away. They had presumably returned to their original locations. Whether this was by the will of Metal Sonic, Eggman, or of the Emeralds themselves, nobody was sure. Vector breathed a sigh of relief. Cream, however, barely seemed to notice. Her gaze remained focused on the conflicted robot before her.

Gradually, Metal Sonic raised one hand to his shoulder and brushed away Cream’s grasp. His gaze remained trained on the ground. His arms dangled at his sides and his body hunched over slightly as if he had no power supply. The conflict happening inside of him was clear as day. 

Finally, Metal Sonic feebly released a series of beeps in Morse Code. Espio, who had climbed back to his feet, translated. 

“He said that he’s a robotic copy of Sonic that has no place coexisting with him,” Espio repeated. 

“You’re wrong!” Cream retorted, pointing a finger at his face. “You’re an individual, the same as me or Mister Sonic or any of us! Of course you have a place existing. You’re not Eggman’s slave!”

Before anyone could stop her, Cream wrapped her arms around Metal Sonic, pulling him into an embrace. Cheese sat atop her head, also wrapping his tiny arms around the robot’s forehead. Metal Sonic remained motionless again as the young rabbit shed more tears. They cascaded from her eyes and hit his metallic armor with light clinks. Then, he beeped once again. 

Espio, who was now standing alongside Vector and Charmy, translated again. “Overcoming one’s programming is not a simple task. He is only able to follow, not execute functions independently.”

Cream’s head jerked up and she pulled away from Metal Sonic. Her face was contorted as she was overcome with emotion. “What are you saying?”

Metal Sonic beeped, and Espio translated. “He is just a tool of Eggman’s, and will continue to be as long as he exists. That’s why…”

Espio trailed off. Metal Sonic had begun to glow with energy once again. This time, however, the energy was not radiating outwards as an attack. The particles were being drawn inwards, towards Metal Sonic himself. Espio’s eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. 

“Cream, get back!” Espio cried. “He’s self-destructing!”

If one could have seen Cream’s expression at that moment, it would have been one of desperation. A desperate act on the part of the robot backed into the corner led to a desperate act of the only one who could understand him. 

“No!” she cried. She pounced forward and laid both of her hands back on him, despite the searing heat of the gathered energy. Through the bright light, Metal Sonic slowly lowered his head to face her. Their eyes met, Cream’s filled with tears. This time, there was something different in Metal Sonic’s eyes. Gone was the expression of sadness, replaced with one of tranquility. In that moment, Cream knew that Metal Sonic’s mind could not be changed. 

“Get outta the way!” Vector yelped. In the blink of an eye, Cream was repelled from Metal Sonic. His final act was to spare her, even if it meant being alone in his last moments. Finally, he felt satisfied in the only way he could with the knowledge that he had done something good. 

****

A violent explosion rocked the cavern. Pieces of shrapnel shot all around and the mountain itself seemed to quake. The roof above them cracked and threatened to collapse. At the center of the explosion was Metal Sonic, who finally felt at peace. 

****

“We gotta get out of here, pronto!” Vector yelled, gathering Cream in one arm and Charmy in the other. He charged forward, flanked by Espio as the cavern collapsed behind them. The slabs of stone falling from the ceiling threatened to flatten them as they sprinted for the exit. The collapse seemed to be following them as they ran. With one last heave, Vector dove out of the cave entrance, followed by Espio. Cream and Charmy slid across the slick ground and slid to a halt nearby. When the dust settled, the entire cavern behind them was filled in with stone. If they had planned to use it as an escape route, they would have to search for another way out. 

Espio rose to his feet and dusted himself off. “That was close.”

“You’re tellin' me,” Vector muttered, sitting up. He blinked a few times to clear his vision, as the world still seemed to be spinning. The flash of the explosion was still imprinted over his eyes, and the ringing in his ears had only gotten louder. He winced as the pain from the fight moments before began to catch up to him. 

“Everyone accounted for?” Vector asked. His eyes turned to Espio, then to Charmy, Cheese, and finally to Cream. She had already sat up, her face buried in her hands. The soft sound of her sobbing was all that could be heard. 

As gently as he could muster, Vector approached her. 

She did not even lift her head up, speaking into her hands once Vector was close enough to hear her. 

“When I touched him right before he exploded, I felt what he felt. He was desperate, and he saw no other way to escape than to blow himself up. How could Eggman do that to him? Nobody should ever have to feel so helpless that the only way out is suicide, not even Metal Sonic.”

All three Chaotix remained silent for a moment. Vector thought about all the wrongdoing Metal Sonic had ever done. In the past he would have brushed Metal Sonic off as Eggman's tool with a rebellious will of its own. After the events of the past few hours, he was no longer so sure. Cream was right, he knew, that even Metal Sonic deserved better. 

He tried to think of some comforting words for Cream, but none came. He couldn't help but feel a little relieved that their enemy was vanquished, but their pyrrhic victory left Vector feeling empty. Maybe silence was for the best. 

Cream broke their moment of silence. "I just wish we could have done something for him."

Espio spoke up. "We certainly can. We can remember him, not for the villain he once was, but for the bit of compassion he showed us at the end. Eggman was the cause of all his woes, from his programming and orders to his very existence. It's only right that we avenge him by defeating Eggman once and for all."

"Eggman is a terrible guy!" Charmy added. "He didn't even consider that Metal Sonic had a free will at all, let alone his opinions."

Vector extended his hand to Cream, who gradually raised her head. Her cheeks were stained with tears as she gazed up at the crocodile towering over her. To anyone else, it would have been an intimidating sight. But to her, it was comforting. 

"Let's finish this, Cream," Vector told her. 

****

Soon, a new plan of attack had been formed. After reforming Vector’s famous mission briefing circle, he laid down his strategy. Firstly, Vector would charge at Eggman's robotic army to serve as a diversion. Since he was the strongest he stood the best chance of fighting his way through. While the attention of the robots were focused on Vector, Espio would sneak by and claim the other six Chaos Emeralds. Without the emeralds powering them, they would lose their extra Chaos abilities and become normal robots. This in turn would give Vector the upper hand in his fight. Meanwhile, Charmy, Cream, and Cheese would embark on a much safer quest to free their captive friends and foil Eggman's plan once and for all. Once all is said and done, Espio, Charmy, and Cream would return to fight alongside Vector with all the others. With strength in numbers, their victory would be assured. It was a simple, yet effective plan. 

After exchanging a brief goodbye and double checking that their walkie talkies were working, they split up into their designated groups. For better or worse, this was their one chance to win. 


	13. The Calm Before The Storm

High above the Chaotix, Tails sat in his cell. His body felt heavy and bogged down, yet he somehow found the energy to sit up straight. For the most part, nobody had exchanged any words since they were all imprisoned. This was partially attributed to the fact that only Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge could comfortably speak. Most of the interactions between Knuckles and Rouge were glares, leaving Tails alone with his thoughts. 

His mind wandered all over the place, from the gadgets he left unfinished at his pad to attempts to formulate an escape plan. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how futile trying to stage a jailbreak would be. Even if they somehow managed to break out of these cells, they would have to battle against the horde of Chaos-powered robots outside in their weakened state. That plan banked on the notion that they could even break out to begin with. As a fellow engineer, Tails could not help but marvel at the prisons Eggman had created from a purely technical perspective. He had always known that if Dr. Eggman ever tried to use his intellect for good, he could accomplish some great things and make a real difference in the world. In the past, most of his plans had failed because of their poor execution. The robots he created were marvels of engineering, and Tails almost felt bad that they were created for the sole purpose of being blown up by Sonic. 

This time around, Tails felt something was different about the plan's execution. It was carried out so perfectly that it was out of character for Eggman. Its complexity was on a scale that Tails never expected from him. Either Eggman had finally smartened up, or he was not working alone. Who he could have been working with, Tails had no idea. 

His thoughts wandered over to the three empty cells at the end of the room. The fact that they remained empty indicated to him that hope was not all lost yet. 

_ Espio, Vector, and Charmy,_ he thought. _ When I saw them earlier, it seemed like they were hiding something from me. Maybe they knew more than they let on. Or maybe they're just weird. Either way, they’re our only hope now. I hope they manage to succeed where we all failed. _

A loud rumbling ripped through the tower, snapping him out of his thoughts. He shot to his feet. Dust was kicked up into the air and the entire building seemed to shake for a few moments, but it ended as soon as it began. He had no way of knowing for sure where the explosion had come from, but he was smiling on the inside.

He knew that their salvation was approaching. 

****

Vector’s head was still throbbing from their beatdown at the hands of Metal Sonic. He rubbed his head vigorously as he jogged to catch up with Espio, who seemed spry as if he had he not gotten blown through a stone wall a few minutes ago. 

“Gee Espio,” he uttered. “I’m amazed at how much your ninja training prevents ya from feeling pain.”

Espio turned his head but did not stop walking. “If you’re referring to the injuries we sustained in our fight just now, you’re wrong. My discipline doesn’t prevent me from feeling pain. In fact, it hurts like hell. I feel like my head is about to explode.”

"It sure doesn't seem that way,” Vector pointed out. 

Espio nodded. “Indeed. While my ninja training does not prevent me from feeling pain, it does help me to not react to it. After all, true discipline is remaining level headed in all situations, regardless of how you are naturally inclined to react.”

“I would say I’m amazed, but this is pretty typical Espio stuff,” Vector replied. 

"That said," Espio continued, "if you are referring to the emotional wounds we've sustained, those cannot be ignored so easily. Knowing that Metal Sonic wished for for redemption but had his chance forcibly taken from him by Eggman… I daresay I feel his pain."

Vector’s eyes became downcast, but he still forced a laugh at Espio's words. "You're right, even ninja trainin' can't prepare you for that, can it?" 

Espio chuckled. “Exactly. I still have a long way to go before mastering my art. And besides, you have me beat in almost every other field.”

“Except computers,” Vector reminded him. Espio nodded somberly as he was flooded with unpleasant flashbacks of teaching Vector what a “start menu” is and how to click. The croc preferred to do things the old fashioned way sometimes. 

“I hope Charmy and Cream are doin’ alright,” Vector thought out loud. 

“I’m sure they'll be fine,” Espio told him. “You saw how they handled themselves back in that cave. We should have a little more faith in them. And besides, we have our own mission to focus on.”

“Speakin’ of which, I think we’re comin’ up on the exit,” Vector observed, pointing ahead.

The two of them had been following a cold, metallic passageway through the outer wall of the base that had provento be unoccupied thus far. They both could not help but be suspicious of this. 

“Right,” Espio affirmed. “We should both charge out at the same time. Make sure to make a lot of noise so they don’t notice me.”

Vector winked. “Makin’ noise is my specialty.”

In one fluid motion, Vector punched the door off its hinges, kicking up a cloud of dust. Puffing his chest out, he moved forward. He had felt he was ready for what was on the other side, but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. 

Once the dust had settled, he saw legions upon legions of glowing robots sprawled out in front of him, primed for battle. His eyes widened. 

“Dang,” he muttered. “Shoulda brought that Chaos Emerald.”

****

Espio saw all the robots begin to launch their assault on Vector and knew that he only had one chance. Ducking under Vector’s outstretched arms as he yelled at the robots to come at him, Espio darted towards the center of the base. It was there that Charmy had seen the emeralds when snooping around. He considered them lucky that they had already done their reconnaissance, otherwise this mission would have been significantly riskier. 

_ It is still incredibly risky, _ he reminded himself as he slid between a robot’s legs and kept running. _ Not only do we have so much to lose, but the power that Eggman controls is significantly more powerful than that which we have. Eggman has a power play over this. This could get tricky. _

He glanced behind him as the sounds of battle began to grow more distant. Vector seemed to be lost in a cloud of dust, with parts from eviscerated robots flying in every direction. Espio could not help but be amused, as it looked like a scene from a cartoon. 

He slid to a halt. There were no signs of the Emeralds nearby. It was likely that he was not close enough, or maybe he simply did not want to admit that he was lost. He decided to radio in. 

“Everyone,” he spoke into the walkie. “How is it coming?”

“I’M A LITTLE BUSY HERE, ESPIO!” Vector’s strained voice yelled back. “COME AT ME YA BUCKETS OF BOLTS, I CAN DO THIS ALL NIGHT.”

His yells were punctuated by the sounds of robots being torn apart and exploding. Espio took that to be a good sign. 

“Cream and Charmy, everything alright?” he asked. 

“All good in the hood!” Charmy replied cheerfully. “We’re still in the basement, waiting for the elevator that will take us up to the top floor.”

“Can’t you guys just fly up there?” Espio pointed out. 

There was silence from Charmy’s walkie. 

Vector’s walkie piped back up. 

“COME ON CHARMY, YER A BEE! USE THOSE WINGS.”

It was Cream’s turn to speak. 

“If we just flew up there, how would we get in the room? Wouldn’t we be stuck outside the window?”

Charmy’s voice boomed back into his mic. “Yeah! And we’d be caught in the crossfire of Vector’s fight too! That would be way too scary!”

“Of course, I uh, I was just testing you guys,” stammered Espio, who was clearly not testing them at all. 

“Vector failed the test more than we did!” Charmy cheerfully replied. 

“GIMME A BREAK!” Vector cried back. “I’M A LITTLE PREOCCUPIED HERE.”

Charmy chuckled and spoke once again. “We’ll let ya know once we’ve freed everyone up above.”

“Roger,” Espio replied. He put away his walkie and turned off his microphone, leaving the earpiece open to all chatter. 

Or he would have if Vector had not forgotten to turn his mic off as well. 

“TAKE THIS! AND SOME O’ THAT. HRAAH! EAT MY FISTS! HRRGH! IS THAT THE BEST YA GUYS GOT? I ALREADY TOLD YA, I CAN DO THIS ALL DAY!”

Espio switched his mic back on. “Vector, please turn off your microphone. I can hear your yelling clearly enough without it being right in my ear.”

“SORRY!” Vector yelped, and his mic turned off. Finally, Espio could revel in the silence and focus himself on the task at hand. 

As he dashed around the base, the very few noises he made were masked by Vector’s brawl in the distance. Most of the robots in the base had already converged on his location. This was a good sign for Espio, but not so much for Vector. Espio quickened his pace, since he knew his friend would not hold out for much longer.

There was a narrow pass ahead to his right. Based on the amount of wires flowing out of it and the centrality of the location, Espio felt it was wise to at least check there for the emeralds. Turning as fast as he could, he glided around the corner and kicked up dust as he did. He silently thanked Vector for distracting all the enemies in the area, because that would have gotten him caught for certain. Espio slowed to a cautious shuffle and he glanced around the area for the glint of a gemstone. 

There was none to be found. 

Espio heaved a sigh of exasperation. Did he really have to scour every inch of the base to find these emeralds? Eggman could have stashed them anywhere. That on top of the fact that he was running on limited time put the ninja into a rare state of impatience. Although he normally managed to stay calm and collected on missions, the events of the past few hours were beginning to take their toll on him. His thoughts kept flashing back to his nice, comfy bed back in the office that he could not wait to bury his face into and the warm basking lamp he desperately needed to lay under. He was a reptile after all. 

Espio shook his head and banished the thoughts from his mind. He had to regain his composure. The mission was afoot, and only once the mission was complete would he be able to indulge himself. 

He sighed once again and began to turn around and continue his search. Before he could do so, something caught his eye. He stopped short and furrowed his eyebrows, or what would have been his eyebrows if he had any. 

_ Was that what I thought it was? _he thought. 

It was. 

Upon closer inspection, there were seven emerald shaped orifices in the wall, with wires and circuitry feeding out of the edges of them. There was no doubt in Espio’s mind that the Chaos Emeralds were once stored there. The openings, however, were empty. There was not a Chaos Emerald in sight. 

_ This is definitely where the energy is siphoned from the emeralds, _ he thought, his eyes tracing the wires along the wall. As he suspected, they led directly to the larger, thicker wires that were being used for power. 

_ Where are the emeralds though? All the robots I’ve seen today were powered up with their energy. Even Metal Sonic had it, although it seemed that he had the emeralds on his person the whole time. If they aren’t here, what’s powering the robots? And… where are the emeralds? _

****

Inside the building, Cream, Cheese, and Charmy rode the elevator in silence. Cream looked completely dejected. Charmy knew that he should say something to comfort her, but he was not sure where to begin. 

He decided to just wing it. 

“Hey Cream-” he began. 

To his surprise, Cream cut him off. 

“If it’s about Metal Sonic, I’m okay now,” she told him, forcing a slight smile. “I understand why everything happened the way it did, even though I don't like it. The only thing we can do for him now is make sure Eggman doesn’t win so he can see that what he did was wrong.”

“That’s the spirit!” Charmy replied enthusiastically, relieved that he no longer had to wing an important conversation. He shot her a hearty thumbs up. 

Espio's voice rang through their walkies. 

"Do you guys read me?" Espio asked. 

"Sure do!" Charmy promptly replied. 

"I just found where Eggman siphons the Emeralds' power," Espio continued. "But its empty. The Emeralds aren't here."

"WHADDAYA MEAN THEY AIN'T THERE?" Vector yelled. 

"I mean what I said," Espio calmly replied. "The Emeralds aren't there. Eggman must have moved them somewhere."

"This seens fishy," said Charmy. 

"BE ON YOUR GUARD, EVERYONE!" Vector said. "THE DOCTOR'S BACKED INTO A CORNER NOW. THERE'S NO TELLING WHAT HE'LL DO." 

"Cream, Charmy," Espio added. "Make sure you get everyone out as soon as you can. If Eggman is planning something big, we stand no chance on our own. We need them with us."

"Roger that!" Charmy cheerfully replied.

Luckily for them, Eggman was far more confident in his base's outer defenses than he should have been. The elevator was clearly labelled with each area's function, so figuring out which floor the holding cells were on posed no challenge. 

The elevator ground to a halt when it reached the destination. For a fleeting moment, nothing happened. The butterflies in Charmy's stomach built up with anticipation. After what felt like an eternity, the door slid open with a resounding clang. 

The moment Charmy, Cream, and Cheese stepped out of the elevator, Tails jumped to his feet. Everyone else’s heads shot in their direction. 

“Charmy?” Tails breathed. “And Cream? I'm not dreaming, am I?”

"Hey guys!" Charmy said. "We're here to save you!" 

Knuckles and Rouge had both pressed themselves up against their cell walls. Even Blaze managed to pull herself into an upright position. Her limbs were almost frozen over. 

Cream ran up to Amy’s cell and peered inside. 

“Miss Amy!” she squeaked. “Oh, thank goodness you’re alright.”

Amy was not able to say anything besides a muffled cry of joy, but her eyes displayed the pride that she needed. 

“Chao chao!” Cheese cried, pointing at the control panel near the elevator door. Charmy decided to report into Vector as he approached it. He put the walkie on speaker mode so everyone in the room would know that they have backup. 

“Hey guys,” he said. “Guess where I am?”

“I SWEAR, IF YER CALLIN' ME FROM THE TOILET AGAIN-” Vector began. 

Espio interrupted. “Just tell us, Charmy.”

“Aww, you’re no fun, Espio!” Charmy retorted, visibly moping. “I guess I’ll tell you guys. I’m up in the holding room! Oh, and Cream’s here of course. Everyone else is here too, all locked up. Espio, do you know how to work this control panel doohickey?”

“How would I know?” Espio replied. 

Charmy surveyed the control panel. It had too many buttons that Charmy did not recognize, and he wanted nothing more than to press them all at random until something worked. 

So he did. 

Tails realized what was about to happen. 

“Charmy, wait-” he began. 

His words arrived too late. Sirens roared all around the base. The security system had been triggered. Red lights flashed all around the room and the control panel retracted back into the ground. 

After a few moments, the sounds of the sirens died down as a voice spoke over them. Dr. Eggman addressed his entire base from an unknown location over a microphone. 

“So, you Chaotix fools finally made it,” his voice echoed. “But you’re too late. You may have stopped Metal Sonic, but I’m afraid this is as far as you will get. It’s time you finally learned to obey your superiors.”

There was a momentary silence as the echo of Eggman’s words hung over his base. Then, there was a loud rumble. The ground below their feet began to shake and the very tower itself threatened to collapse. Charmy and Cream lifted off their feet and quickly moved to the window at the end of the room. They pressed themselves up against the glass to get a better look at the source of the rumbling. To their left and right, Rouge and Knuckles also craned their necks to get a good look outside. 

In the center of the base, two large mechanical doors split apart on the ground to reveal a circular black chasm beneath. 

“CHARMY, WHAT DID YA DO?” Vector scolded. 

“Don’t blame me!” Charmy squealed. “Espio was the one who didn’t tell me how to use the control panel!”

“I told you I had no idea!” Espio shot back. “Don’t pin this on me!”

“Well, you didn’t tell me what NOT to do!” Charmy taunted, half jokingly. This only seemed to rile Espio up more. 

“I shouldn’t have to give you exact instructions on every single thing you do!” he replied. “Use your brain.”

“Maybe you should stop being such a party pooper, Espio!” Charmy said.

“Quit yer bickerin’!” Vector yelled over both of them. “We got bigger problems on our hands now. We need ya down here, Charmy. Cream, you stay in the tower and figure out a way to free the others. An’ keep that emerald safe!”

“Right!” Charmy and Cream cried in unison. Charmy gave Cream a quick fist bump and waved to his incarcerated friends before dashing back into the elevator. 

****

Back on the ground, Vector had managed to break free of his robotic assailants and headed towards the tower. Now that the doctor was alerted to their presence, there was no need to continue their diversion. To his surprise, the robots did not make any effort to chase him. Rather, they all stood at the ready, their eyes simply following him as he ran. This really creeped Vector out. He and Espio eventually regrouped near the tower, and Charmy finally made his way back outside. The three silently stood before the gaping chasm that had opened in the ground, anticipating what may come next. 

There was another sharp jerk throughout the base, nearly causing Espio and Vector to tumble to the ground. Before their startled eyes, something huge emerged from the ravine. 

It towered above their heads as it began to slowly emerge, as if being lifted up by an elevator. It was a giant robot on a scale that none of them had ever seen before, standing at nearly 50 feet tall. It was a large, humanoid form with two arms and two legs. The red, black, and gold metal plating glinted despite there being no sunlight. Its stubby legs somehow supported the massive body, with each of them barely making up a fraction of the robot’s height. It carried a one-handed metal scimitar that looked sharp enough to cut a rock in half like butter. It’s ornate hilt gleamed in the light, and it’s tip curved gracefully into a deadly edge. From it’s shoulders protruded a pair of robotic wings that looked as angelic as they did menacing. The wings were only for show, as there were rocket thrusters on the back that somehow allowed it to fly instead. The torso was oblong and egg-shaped, much like Eggman himself. Around the waist of the robot was a belt comprised of the Chaos Emeralds. Although each individual emerald was not visible through its protective covering, its energy glistened through and their light shone like stars in the night sky. Only one spot in the very front was empty, presumably for the final Emerald. At the top of the ovular body was another protrusion, with a glass dome at it’s top. On the dome itself were a pair of glowing green eyes, a taunting grin, and a metal mustache that looked just like Eggman’s signature facial hair style. Through the transparent glass, the Chaotix could see Eggman himself sitting in the cockpit, sneering down at his enemies. A violent gust of wind swept over them when the robot moved. 

Eggman’s voice boomed through a speaker system. “Muahahaha! You fools thought you could beat me that easily, eh?”

The shadow of the machine cast all three Chaotix into darkness as they craned their necks and stepped back to gaze upon the giant robot. 

“Look!” Charmy cried. "The Chaos Emeralds!" 

“Prepare yourselves,” Espio growled, taking a fighting stance. “This is the final battle. Behold, the might of my ninja power!”

Vector puffed his chest out and valiantly looked Eggman right in the eyes. 

"Come on, boys," he announced. "This is our make or break moment. Let's show that doctor just who he chose to mess with."

The doctor’s robot reared back and hoisted his sword in one hand. He swung it through the air with deadly precision and pointed it directly at the assembled Chaotix. 

"Witness my latest and greatest creation, the Egg Falchion!" his voice reverberated through the robot’s speaker system. 

“I don’t care what it’s called!” Charmy hollered back, swiping his hand through the air in front of him. “You’re gonna be egg on toast either way!”

“Ah, Charmy Bee,” Eggman taunted. “How very bold of you. You of all people should know that there’s nothing you can do. You always were the weakest of the Chaotix, and even with that in mind you manage to fall short of everyone’s expectations. You really think you stand a chance against me? You're useless!”

Charmy looked at the ground. Eggman did have a point, he realized. Against a machine that huge, what could he really add to the fight that Vector and Espio couldn’t handle on their own?

“Don’t listen to him, Charmy!” Espio yelled. “He’s playing mind games.”

“Ha, Espio!” Eggman jeered. “What would you know about the mind? For a detective, you’re remarkably dim witted, and for a ninja you are quite clumsy. What role do you play in the Chaotix besides holding the others back? You really think you have a place trying to stop me?”

Espio knew that Eggman was trying to get under his skin, but he could not help but reflect on all the mistakes he had made. It was true that most of his stealth missions lately had ended as either failures or extremely close calls, and he knew that solving mysteries was never his specialty either. Even though he had no definitive weaknesses, did he really have anything he could say he excelled at? Maybe the doctor had a valid point, and he had to step up his training. 

Vector interrupted his thoughts. 

“Come on, Espio,” he barked. “Weren’t you the one who was just sayin’ Eggman was tryin’ to get under our skin? Don’t listen to him!”

“Ah, Vector, the man of the hour,” Eggman scoffed, his tone turning dark. “The leader of the Chaotix Detective Agency who can’t even keep his own members safe. What will it take for you to realize the danger you put your friends through every day, while you sit back and watch? Heh, a leader who sits back and makes his minions do all the dangerous work. You would make a good villain.”

Vector had heard enough. 

“SHADDAP!” he roared. Espio and Charmy jumped back to their senses. Their eyes were wide as they looked back and forth between Vector and Eggman, both of whom had their eyes directly trained on one another. 

Vector continued. “Preying on insecurities? You’re the lowest of the low, Eggman. Of course we ain’t perfect. But all of us have a place in the Chaotix Detective Agency, and we all bring something to the table. Charmy here is our blood and soul! He's the spirit of our team. And nobody can match up to Espio's skills, either. There's nothing he can't do! I would never have made it this far if it weren’t for Espio and Charmy stickin’ by my side all this time!”

Now, Vector turned to face his friends. He spoke softly. 

“That sounded a lot less cheesy in my head,” he muttered. 

Charmy giggled. “That’s so Vector!”

“Talk about second hand embarrassment,” Espio said. 

“It’s all true though,” Vector reminded them. “We’ve stuck together this far, and I think it’s about time that we gave him a taste of our true power.”

Espio broke into a determined smirk. Charmy threw his fist up in the air. 

“Time to make that Egg Falchion into an Egg Omelette!” he cried. 

“That sounds disgusting,” Espio murmured. 

Everyone nodded in agreement. They turned back to face Eggman, looking more determined than ever. 

“Hmph,” Eggman grunted. “So, you’ll continue to defy me, no matter what? Very well then, now you will taste the wrath of Dr. Eggman!”


	14. Commence Operation Cannonball

Tails' voice spoke directly into everyone’s ears. Back in the prison room, Cream had held her walkie up to him because he wanted to brief the Chaotix as best as he could. 

“Can you read me, guys?” he asked. 

“Loud and clear!” Vector’s voice boomed back through the miniature speaker. 

Tails continued. “I can’t see Eggman’s robot very well from here, but I know his style. He doesn't know how to buikd power sources right. There's always one weak spot left open. It has to be the emeralds! They're acting as the robot's power source. If you can get in there and take them away, you can bring it down! There’s no way they aren’t protected though, so be careful. Any blow you try to land on them may backfire, and who knows what other traps he has! Make sure you keep all that in mind!”

“Roger,” Espio replied. 

“Thanks Tails!” Charmy yelped.

“Cream, do you read me?” Vector asked. “You need to get everyone out of there asap. We’ll need all the help we can get down here.”

“Understood!” Cream affirmed. “Leave it to me! Please stay safe!”

“Dontcha worry, Cream,” Vector replied. “I’m the safest croc around.”

“You’re the only croc around,” pointed out Espio. 

“Shaddup, Espio,” Vector retorted.

Finally, the Chaotix were able to focus on the battle at hand. 

****

Eggman charged first. The Egg Falchion moved faster than any robot of its size should have been able to. In one swift motion, Eggman closed the gap between him and his adversaries and swung the giant scimitar. Espio and Charmy barely dove out of the way on time. When the dust cleared, Espio and Vector were already launching their joint counter attack. Espio did a spin dash past Vector, who caught Espio and used the momentum to spin and throw him like a baseball. The deadly ball of ninja flew through the air with extreme precision and struck the Egg Falchion’s exterior on the yellow Chaos Emerald, which was on the robot’s front left side. There was a loud crash as the yellow glow was extinguished. 

In a rage, Eggman cried out. 

“You’re going to regret that!” he bellowed. 

Energy began to swirl around the robot's clenched left fist. He extended it in front of him and took aim. A blast of pure Chaos energy fired and hit Vector dead-on. With a flash, he was flung backwards into the hard, metal exterior wall of the base. 

Charmy was the next to mount an assault. With Eggman preoccupied attacking Vector, he was able to take advantage of the opening that was left. Flying with all the speed he could muster, he sank his stinger into the encasement for the purple Chaos Emerald in the back right-hand side. 

His stinger met only metal. It was too hard for him to penetrate alone. 

_ Crap_, he thought. _ What now? _

It was then that Espio caught his eye. Charmy smiled, knowing exactly what needed to be done. Espio hurled three ninja stars with deadly accuracy, all of which hit in the same spot and cracked the metallic casing around the Emerald. This weakened the metal enough for Charmy to drive his stinger through the crack, striking the machinery within extinguishing the purple glow. 

The doctor howled with rage and swatted Charmy out of the air. He hit the ground hard did not stir. 

It was Espio’s turn to strike. Turning invisible, he ran as fast as he could towards the robot’s leg. He only had one shot at this, and he knew he had to time it perfectly. While Vector distracted the robot by deftly dodging its sword swings and energy strikes, Espio grabbed a hold of the leg and turned invisible as he scaled the exterior. As the robot moved, he was nearly shaken off, however the momentum he had built up helped him to jump from part to part until he had reached the cyan glow in the side. With one final exertion of force, he turned visible once more and reared up into the air with three daggers clutched tightly in his hand. In one fell swoop, he brought all three down and pierced the cavity. With that, the cyan glow was extinguished. 

Unfortunately for Espio, Eggman was now aware of his location. The Egg Falchion scooped Espio up in it’s empty hand and squeezed hard. The pressure made Espio feel as though his bones would break any minute. Seeing his friend in peril, Vector threw a large piece of debris at the Egg Falchion’s arm, catching it off guard and giving Espio a chance to break free. 

At this point, Charmy was back on his feet. He regrouped with Vector and Espio as the Egg Falchion stumbled from Vector’s attack. Recovering immediately, the Egg Falchion leapt into the air, using its jetpacks to hover above the ground. Then, it dove. 

“Scatter!” Vector ordered as the Egg Falchion swooped towards the ground and swung it’s sword. Charmy and Vector were able to safely move out of the way on time, but Espio was not as lucky. Although the sword did not connect with him directly, it only narrowly missed, and the very force of the air swept up toppled him. The Egg Falchion soared back into the sky and prepared to swoop again. 

Vector and Charmy were ready this time. When the Egg Falchion drew close, Charmy yanked hard and pulled Vector into the air with him so that they were both above the swooping robot. When Eggman noticed that his targets were no longer there, he spun the Egg Falchion around so that it was facing the sky. Twin gatling guns popped out of two hatches on the robot’s chest and peppered the clouds with smaller bolts of Chaos Energy. Above, Charmy heaved with all of his might to avoid the barrage of bullets. Vector hung on for dear life as Charmy flew at speeds he had previously not thought possible. The base blurred around them as they weaved between structures and hovered above the ground like a levitating caravan. Finally, Charmy narrowed his eyes released a yelp as he tossed Vector as fast as he could toward the Egg Falchion. As soon as he released his ally, he was singed by a bolt of energy from the Egg Falchion and careened to the ground. 

Vector was in freefall, but thanks to Charmy he was able to land directly on the Egg Falchion’s chest without any issue. He held on for dear life as Eggman tried desperately to shake him off. The Egg Falchion spun back around so Vector’s feet dangled inches above the ground, but Eggman did not dare fly any lower. Lucky for Vector, there was a strong handhold he was able to grip tightly as the Egg Falchion spun, veered, and shot up and down to try to shake him off.

Finally, Eggman grew impatient. The Egg Falchion aimed it’s clenched fist at Vector and fired off a huge blast of energy. To Eggman’s dismay, this was exactly what Vector was hoping he would do. Immediately before Eggman’s fired, Vector swung off of his handhold and grabbed onto the Egg Falchion’s foot. The energy that Eggman had fired off bored a hole into the Egg Falchion’s chest and knocked its breastplate clean off. Vector looked up and noticed that all six emeralds were not being protected by the breastplate, as there was still a thick coating of metal around the ones that remained connected. He cursed under his breath and began to scale the leg. 

What Vector did not plan, however, was for the damage to the Egg Falchion to be so severe that it would fall out of the sky. He screamed in terror as the robot plunged like a rock, hugging the leg like his life depended on it, which it did. 

The engines managed to sputter back on momentarily, which slowed their fall. The Egg Falchion landed back on its feet with a resounding thud. Vector clung to the robot’s exterior, amazed that he was still alive. He decided to take advantage of Eggman’s confusion and pull himself up to the robot’s waist. He lashed out with his fist at the encasement for the blue emerald, and then did it again and again. Eggman vigorously flailed the Egg Falchion in a futile attempt to break free of his assailant. Finally, Vector issued one more battle cry and punched. With a crack, the blue glow was extinguished. 

Vector pushed off the robot as Eggman tried to stop the Egg Falchion from collapsing due to the sudden power loss. He landed on his feet with a graceful roll and immediately pulled out his walkie talkie. 

“Espio, Charmy,” he said hastily. “Where are ya guys? What’s your status?”

Charmy’s pained voice spoke through from the other. “Ergh, I’m okay boss. I’ll head over to you.”

“Espio?” Vector asked. “What about you?”

He shrieked when Espio immediately materialized right next to him. 

“Right here, boss,” he said flatly. 

Vector shot a glare at his friend and put the walkie back up to his flapper. “Cream, any luck?”

“I’m afraid not,” her voice said back through the walkie. “Mister Tails is helping me try to figure something out, but he said something about ‘biometric authentication’. I’m not sure what that means… Do you know?”

Vector heaved a sigh and explained to her what biometric authentication entailed, exasperated that their backup would not be coming any time soon. 

“Looks like we’re on our own,” Espio said as the Eggman regained his composure and began to advance in the Egg Falchion. “Do we have a plan for the last two emeralds?”

Vector thought for a moment, then broke into a sly grin. “Let's do Operation Cannonball.”

Espio focused frown became an expression of grave horror. “Oh no. Not Operation Cannonball again. Have you forgotten what happened last time we tried that?”

“We’ll learn from our mistakes,” Vector told him. 

At that moment, the Egg Falchion fired a barrage of missiles. Caught off guard, Espio and Vector did not have any time to dodge them. Their eyes were wide as the missiles headed straight for them. 

And they would have met their mark too, had it not been for the fact that they were bowled over by a hyperactive bee right then. 

“Hey guys!” Charmy exclaimed. “I made it.”

“Took ya long enough,” Vector replied, laying flat on his back as the missiles exploded behind him. “You only just barely saved our asses here!”

“Vector, language!” Espio scolded. 

“Yeah Vector, you’re a bad influence!” Charmy sang. “Ass, ass, ass, ass! Look, I’m Vector the Ass-odile and I’m saying a bad word! Ass! Ass! Ass!”

“CAN YA STOP THAT?” Vector yelled, grabbing Charmy’s entire face in his oversized hand. Charmy promptly shut up. 

The bee pulled himself out of Vector’s grip and cleared his throat. “So what’s the plan here guys?”

Vector smiled again. “Operation Cannonball.”

“Operation Cannonball!” Charmy enthusiastically repeated. “That’s a great idea! Let’s do it.”

“Oh fine,” Espio conceded. “But if this goes wrong I’m not doing the Heimlich Maneuver on Vector again, I’m leaving it to you.”

“You know I can’t reach all the way around Vector!” Charmy yelled. “It’s because he’s too wide! ”

“He's not that wide,” Espio pointed out. “You’re just tiny.”

“You take that back!” Charmy retorted. 

“Knock it off you two!” Vector ordered, pushing the two apart. “Eggman ain’t getting any less pissed off here. Let’s commence Operation Cannonball, boys!”

****

The Egg Falchion was reeling from the rapid loss of two thirds of it’s Chaos power. The Chaos Emeralds were still in the robot, but were simply no longer connected. Eggman knew he needed to get them reconnected immediately, and only his trump card would allow him to do that. Once he was back at full power, the Chaotix would never be able to hold out against him. Eggman decided to wait until they thought him defeated, and then strike when they least expected. 

_ They’ll get a glimpse of hope,_ Eggman thought, _ and a moment later I’ll strike that hope away from them for good. _

For the first time that day, Eggman smiled. 

****

Espio ducked on the ground in front of Vector and revved up another spindash. This time, he did not shoot forward. While he was spinning in place, Vector leaned over and swallowed the poor chameleon whole. Charmy could see the lump forming in Vector’s throat that he knew to be Espio. Not only that, it was moving and jerking around like an alien struggling to break out of his chest. Charmy thought it was really gross, and decided to banish the image from his mind and carry out the operation.

He buzzed forward and yanked Vector into the air with all of his might. The lack of air was beginning to get to him, and his face started to turn as purple as the chameleon lodged in his esophagus. Through all this, Vector remained focused on the operation, placing his trust in Charmy to carry out his part on time. 

Once Vector deemed them high enough in the air, he shot Charmy a strained thumbs up. Charmy nodded and procured a paddle seemingly out of thin air. 

_ I swear, his kid has everything, _Vector thought as he was rapidly dying. 

In one fluid motion, Charmy reared back and smacked Vector in the upper back with the paddle. With a mixture of a yell and a cough from Vector, Espio shot out of Vector’s mouth at a speed hitherto unheard of. Eggman’s eyes widened as Espio barreled right into him, boring a hole straight through the Egg Falchion’s midsection. On the way in, he took out the white Chaos Emerald on the front right, and on the way out, he blew through the red Chaos Emerald in the back left. In one fell swoop, Espio shot out of the Egg Falchion and slid to a halt on the ground behind it. 

In the air, Vector gasped for breath as he saw Espio shoot through Eggman’s robot. The Egg Falchion sparked, smoked, and wobbled, but still remained standing. Vector noticed this vulnerability. 

“Now for the final blow!” Vector commanded. “Charmy!” 

On cue, Charmy spun in midair and tossed Vector. Vector issued a war cry as he extended both hands above his head and brought them down on the Egg Falchion. His blow left a crater in the robot’s upper chest and Eggman’s latest creation toppled backwards, defeated. Espio gracefully backflipped out of the way of the falling robot and landed with his arms crossed. Vector landed much less gracefully, and Charmy fluttered down next to him. Cautiously, the three of them approached what was left of the Egg Falchion. Smoke billowed into the sky, and it looked unstable enough to explode at any moment. 

The base was silent in the aftermath of the battle. Contrary to the sounds of robot production and fighting that racked the facility a moment ago, it almost sounded peaceful. The only noise was the sound of the dust settling around them. 

Charmy and Espio exchanged a silent glance, and then did the same with Vector. 

“Is that it?” Charmy hesitantly asked. “Did we beat him?”

Vector shrugged and took another step towards the Egg Falchion. 

As soon as he took one step, the robot began to shake. Vector leapt backwards into a battle position. 

Eggman’s taunting voice rang out of the pile of scrap before them. 

“Muahaha!” the voice cackled. “I'm almost impressed. You thought you had me defeated, did you? Well, you’ll have to do better than that.”

The Chaotix all took another cautious step back. The chest cavity of the ruined Egg Falchion opened like sliding doors and a brilliant rainbow colored radiance shone through into the clouded sky. Before their startled eyes, another shadowy, robotic form began to rise from within. This was far smaller than the Egg Falchion, yet more sinister. Surrounded by white smoke, the new figure rose to its full height. It was not much taller than an average human, however it seemed to radiate raw power. The humanoid form took a step forward, and the six Chaos Emeralds around it’s waist surged with energy. Finally, the team got a good look at the robot as it stepped out into the light. The lean, powerful figure was coated with thick, black and red armor all over its body. It was lined with razor sharp spikes that could impale a rock like it was butter, and its form was sleek as a race car. The armored feet had wheels built into them, as well as rocket boosters in the calves. The torso looked like an upside down egg, giving the illusion of an extremely muscular figure. The palm of one hand was outfitted with what could only be an energy beam that harnessed the power of the emeralds, and in the other hand it carried a vicious-looking double bladed sword that crackled with energy. Out of the shoulders protruded two aerodynamic stabilizer wings, also sharp as a knife. On the mech's back was a rocket launcher loaded with an arsenal of rockets. At the bottom of those was a rocket booster, presumably for flying. Eggman’s face sneered at them through the visor where the head would be. The doctor was wearing and piloting the powerful suit of armor himself. 

Eggman hoisted the blaster built into his arm and trained it onto the Chaotix. “Allow me to introduce what is perhaps my finest creation yet, the Egg Iconoclast!”

“Nice to meetcha!” Charmy exclaimed cheerfully yet mockingly. 

“What a mouthful of a name,” Espio muttered. 

Eggman chose to ignore them and snarled in response. “Vector, Espio, Charmy… This time, you’re finished for good.”

Around him, Eggman’s chaos-powered robots began to mobilize. Their glowing green eyes pierced through the darkness of the night as they approached like an army of zombies. 

Vector sighed. “Why's there always a final form?”


	15. The Turn Of The Tide

High above, Cream and Cheese witnessed the fight commencing between the Chaotix and the Egg Iconoclast. Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth as the army of robots charged alongside their dark master and her friends were forced onto the defensive. She couldn’t bring herself to watch anymore, and decided to turn back to her captive friends behind her. Her arms were held close to her body as she walked silently down the hallway. Knuckles and Rouge simply sat back and watched her pass, whereas Blaze and Sonic’s pained eyes seemed to be silently pleading with her. Amy had sat back and slouched over, gazing at the ground forlornly. Finally, Cream reached Tails. She approached his cell. 

“What’s going on down there?” Tails asked her. Part of him was afraid to hear the answer, but Cream’s response caused him to huff a sigh of relief. 

“Um, they’re still fighting,” she told Tails, who huffed the aforementioned sigh. “They looked like they were having a hard time though, and I think they need backup. Can we do anything with this control panel?”

“I doubt it," Tails explained. "Its designed to only allow Eggman to operate it. If anyone else tries to, the base’s security system will go off, as we saw. Obviously, Eggman already knows you're here, but I don't think we'll be able to get past the biometrics very easily."

Cream turned once again and faced the control panel. It had popped back out of the ground now that the alarm had been disengaged. Without laying a finger on it, she examined it. 

She was no detective, and could not find any secret means to disable the control panel. As a result, she found herself wondering what Vector would say if he was there. 

The answer came to her immediately. 

“Charmy, shut up!” she blurted out, pointing at the wall. She immediately blushed a bright red. Tails tilted his head in confusion. 

“Uh, what was that?” he asked. 

Cream shook her head vigorously and said it was nothing. Embarrassed, she thought about the second thing Vector would say if he was there. 

She pulled out the green Chaos Emerald and held it in her palm in front of Tails. 

“Is there anything we can do with this?” she asked. 

Everyone in the room was dumbfounded. Knuckles’ mouth gaped comically wide, and Amy’s eyebrows were raised so high that they threatened to recede into her ears. Rouge’s mouth was practically watering. Even Blaze managed to pull herself up to get a better look. If Sonic were able to move his body enough to see, he would suddenly find himself very thirsty. 

Tails pressed himself up to the barrier of his cell, smiling at the emerald. For the first time in weeks, he was filled with hope.

“You know,” he told Cream, “that may just do the trick.”

****

Vector dove out of the way at the last moment as Eggman swung his sword at him. Around him, Espio and Charmy were rapidly being overwhelmed by the Chaos-powered robots as they desperately tried to defend against Eggman’s onslaught. 

A volley of rockets exploded on the ground near Espio, who backflipped out of the way and gracefully landed on a perch atop the wall above Vector. 

“We need to turn the tide here!” he yelled, throwing as many ninja stars as his hands would allow him. Each robot took at least five direct hits from him before they fell. Espio was rapidly running out of ammo. He'd have to dive back into the waves of robots to retrieve his weapons sooner or later. 

Below him, Vector slammed two robots together by the head and threw their mangled remains at the Egg Iconoclast, who swatted it out of the way like a pile of junk. 

“Maybe we shoulda brought Cream’s Chaos Emerald,” Vector realized. It was nearly impossible to hear him over the cacophony of battle. 

Charmy was flung out of the mass of robots charging at them. Vector leapt into the air and caught him in one hand like a baseball player making an over the fence catch. As the robots continued their march, the three could only retreat further and further back towards the main entrance to the base. To their dismay, there was another battalion of robots waiting for them there. 

“Crap!” Vector spat. 

“What’s the plan boss?” the panicked Charmy asked. He and Espio both turned expectantly to him as they waited for him to disclose his assuredly insightful thoughts. 

The head honcho of the Chaotix Detective Agency was, as his name implied, the leader of the gang. When the trio was backed into a corner, he always found them a way out. When hopes grew thin and the outlook was grim, he would be the force to push them through. This time, however, things were different.

Vector had absolutely no idea what to do. 

That is, until a new face joined the fray. 

“Chaos control!” a fierce voice shouted from nearby. Before the started eyes of the Chaotix, a dozen robots exploded in the blink of an eye. 

“Wha-?” Vector began. 

A ray of light began to poke over the horizon behind them. Morning had come. Eggman’s face was illuminated clearly in the sunshine, and it bore an expression of utter bewilderment and dismay. 

All three detectives wheeled to face the newcomers. Silhouetted against the rising sun behind them stood Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Blaze, Shadow, and Rouge, all primed and itching for a fight. Leading them was Cream the Rabbit at the front, clutching the green Chaos Emerald in her outstretched hand. She smiled deviously at her three friends. 

“Cream!” cried Vector. “Everyone! I didn’t expect ya to make such good time!”

Sonic winked. “Are you kidding? We wouldn’t miss out on a chance to whoop Eggman’s butt.”

“And we have Cream to thank for getting us out of there,” Tails added, stepping forward. “Her control over the emerald is remarkable, almost like there’s an innate connection between them. She was able to set the Chaos Emerald to resonate at a specific frequency that mimicked Eggman’s energy readings and disabled the control panel! It was amazing! Her sync rate may even be higher than Shadow's! I’d love to do some research on it one day, if we get the-”

“Silence!” Eggman cried. He was furious. His nose was wrinked to an extent hitherto thought impossible and his face was contorted with rage. “I defeated you all once, and I will do so again. With the power of all six Chaos Emeralds on our side, we are unstoppable!”

The Egg Iconoclast fell back as his legions of robots charged forward. 

“This is it!” Vector commanded. “Let’s take ‘em down!”

“Roger,” Espio affirmed. 

“All right!” Charmy cheered. 

The three of them led the charge into battle. 

****

It was a fairly short lived charge. With the power of everyone on their side, the robots were easily bested. Within minutes, Eggman’s ranks had been cut in half. 

Amy let out a battle cry as she brought her hammer down onto one robot, squishing it into a crumpled pile of scrap metal. She reared back once again and hit it like a croquet ball, sending it careening into four other robots. She raised her fist and issued another war cry as she moved onto the next robot. She was clearly happy to be able to yell again, and intended to take full advantage of the situation. Next to her, Sonic tore through a line of robots with his signature speed. A blue trail was left in his wake. His eyes were set directly on Eggman. Every time he thought the Egg Iconoclast was in his range, it teleported out of the way using Chaos Control. Sonic was excited to finally have a challenge. Blaze's flames melted some of her enemies into slag, and the others fell victim to her incredible mix of speed and power. Knuckles drove his fist through robot after robot, while Rouge and Tails bombed the area with ring bombs from above. Finally, Shadow managed to break through and reach Eggman himself. 

“Doctor,” he grunted. “Give back Omega, or suffer the consequences!”

If Shadow expected Eggman to resist or say something snarky, he would have been disappointed. Rather, Eggman gave right in and grinned. 

“Certainly,” he said, pointing to the center of the base. “In fact, here he comes now.”

E-123 Omega approached the battle casually, walking at a normal pace. His eyes were trained on the ground in front of him. Rather than his normal awkward waddle, he seemed to be walking remarkably human-like. Shadow narrowed his eyes. Something wasn’t right. Before he could think about it any further, Omega shot forward. He slid to a halt and fired a beam of pure power from his left hand at Shadow, sweeping him off his feet. The entire battle stopped and everyone turned to look at the newcomer. Omega finally looked up. His eyes were glowing a poisonous green, and he exuded an aura of raw power. Gone was the sentience and humanity he usually displayed (to an extent), replaced with a cold malice that caused every hair on Tails’ body to stand up. 

Shadow pulled himself to his feet and charged again, only to be batted away once again by Omega. Eggman chortled. 

“Your friend Omega is no longer with us,” Eggman informed them, retreating further behind his robotic minions. “I created the Chaos virus, a Chaos-powered infection tailored specifically for my robots. That's how I've been powering my robots, but Omega here is a special case. He's so powerful, I simply couldn't resist. All I did was inject Omega with it, and now he’s my loyal servant. Perhaps even more powerful than Metal Sonic.”

Omega surveyed his opponents. To him, they were nothing more than targets. And to his targets, he was nothing less than terrifying. 

“Damn,” Shadow cursed. “You’ll pay for this, doctor.”

Shadow, Rouge, Sonic, and Blaze all attacked Omega at once. One single Chaos Blast was all it took to knock them back. Vector, Espio, and Charmy joined the fray and helped their friends back to their feet. 

Sonic groaned as Espio yanked him up. Behind him, Shadow and Blaze led another assault, this time landing some well timed blows on Omega. They did not seem to have any effect. 

“Go after Eggman, you guys,” Sonic told the Chaotix. His voice wavered and he cradled his head in his hand. “We’ll hold these guys off here.”

Sonic tried to stand up on his own, but wobbled. His knees nearly buckled under him. Out of seemingly nowhere, Amy rushed to his aid and caught him. Vector smiled when he noticed that they were still wearing their matching pajamas. It was hard to believe that this whole case had begun with Eggman wanting to break them up.

“Sonic, are you alright?” Amy asked. Her eyes were wide with concern as she supported her spiky blue lover. 

The blue hedgehog grunted and smirked at her warmly. “I'm okay, Ames. A little beaten up, but I’ll make it.”

Tails landed next to them. “Sonic, you really need to take it easy. Eggman was pumping a lot of electricity through you in that cell. Frankly, no normal hedgehog should have survived that at all.”

Sonic looked up at his best friend at winked. “Good thing I’m no normal hedgehog, huh buddy? C'mon, Omega’s not gonna kick his own butt.”

“Your sense of discipline is admirable, Sonic,” Espio said. “You would make a fine ninja, should you ever consider devoting yourself to the art.”

“Heh, we’ll see about that,” Sonic replied. 

Before Espio had a chance to respond, five robots launched a surprise attack. Sonic and the others barely noticed them on time, and they would have fallen victim to them had it not been for Knuckles plowing through them in a line like he was a snowblower in the winter. 

He pointed at Sonic, Tails, and Amy after the threat had been neutralized. “Are you guys gonna stand around all day or are you gonna give us a hand here?”

"You guys take Baldy Nosehair," Sonic told Vector. "We'll handle Omega."

"Stay safe, guys," Amy added with a fist-bump to Espio and Charmy. "Give him a good beat down from all of us."

The two of them and Tails moved to re-join the fight. 

"Sonic! Tails!" Amy cried as she ran off. "Airborne croquette bomber!" 

Sonic glanced back and shot Vector a confident wink before joining forces with Tails and Amy for their devastating combo attack. 

Vector grinned and gave them all a hearty thumbs up. “Come on, guys!”

He gestured for Espio and Charmy to follow him, but stopped short. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Cream hanging back with Cheese. She was eyeing him timidly, too shy to ask to come along. 

Vector decided to take the initiative. He beckoned for her to follow them. 

“You too, Cream,” he bellowed. “We’re gonna need all four Chaotix on this one!”

Cream could not hold back her tears of joy upon hearing the words she had so desperately wanted to hear. She and Cheese went forth to join their friends for their final confrontation. 


	16. Do Vector's Headphones Have Dreams?

The sounds of battle grew distant behind them as they made haste after the Egg Iconoclast. As the fastest of the bunch, Espio was in the lead. Behind him were Cream and Charmy, shooting through the air like bullets. Taking up the rear was Vector, panting heavily and jogging at a fairly normal speed as he struggled to keep up. 

“Why… do ya guys… have to be… so damn fast?” he panted under his breath. 

If there was anyone at whom Vector was surprised, it was Eggman. His ground speed was incredible in the Egg Iconoclast. He had heard from Sonic about how fast the doctor could really run on the straightaway, but this velocity was in a class of it’s own. Even Espio was being given a run for his money. Literally. But the ninja eventually closed the gap. In one graceful motion, he drew two daggers and hurled them with pinpoint accuracy at the back of the robot's knees. The Egg Iconoclast buckled and tumbled to the ground. Almost immediately, it rolled and shot back to its feet, yanking the two knives out. Inside his suit of armor, Eggman turned to face his four adversaries, all of whom had caught up. Vector was keeled over panting with his hands on his knees. 

“Just… gimme a minute here,” he said, holding one finger up. “I need a breather. You guys can get started without me.”

Eggman hoisted his double-blade sword and pointed the front end directly at Espio. 

“You Chaotix have foiled my plans one too many times,” he growled. “It’s not over yet! Once you are defeated, I will deal with the rest of those insignificant pests. You stand no chance against the power of six emeralds. Once you four are defeated, I will be unstoppable.”

Eggman was glaring at the final Chaos Emerald in Cream’s hand. She hastily tucked it out of sight, but it was too late. 

The doctor grinned maliciously. “That emerald will be mine.”

“Just tell me one thing, Doc,” Vector’s voice said from behind them. He was standing back up straight as if nothing had happened. “I’ve already got this whole thing figured out, from start to finish. Hell, I even know who your mastermind is. But one thing doesn’t make sense to me. Why did ya need Metal Sonic to copy all of our data? What good did it serve ya to have Metal Sonic be able to shapeshift into all of us?”

Eggman looked taken aback and panicked. “Wha? Mastermind? I don’t know what you’re talking about-”

Vector cut him off. “Don’t play dumb with me, it’s too late. You might as well just fill us in on the rest.”

“Very well,” Eggman conceded. “I am a just man, and since you have made it this far, it is only fair that you learn of the true extent of my genius before I extinguish you."

“But it wasn’t your genius,” observed Charmy. "It was your mastermind's!" 

Eggman ignored him once again. “Metal Sonic’s shape-shifting would prove to be a major asset to me during my imminent world domination. The plan may have changed since his untimely demise, but the fact remains. It would not have been Metal Sonic and I laying waste to your eyesore of a city. It would have been you, Sonic, and all the others. At least, that’s what the townspeople would see. It mattered not if they weren't exact replicas. Once Metal Sonic had tarnished all of your names by donning your ugly faces and destroying the city, I would swoop in and save the day. Their savior, Dr. Eggman, would finally come and put an end to all the crimes committed by Sonic and his friends. Your reputation would be tarnished beyond repair, while I would be hailed as a hero who saved the city! That gigantic fool Sonic has such a loyal following from the people of that city. Imagine the empire I could build if they were that loyal to me instead.”

A stunned silence hung over the group assembled. Eggman surveyed them expectantly, awaiting their reaction. He did not expect much, but he ended up pleasantly surprised. 

“I’m… actually impressed,” Espio said, confused at the words coming out of his own mouth. “From the perspective of someone aiming to become an evil emperor, that’s a solid plan.”

“You’ve outdone yourself this time,” Vector agreed. 

Charmy shook his head. “You’re a terrible little man, Eggman!"

"I'm average sized!" the affronted doctor shot back. 

It was Cream’s turn to speak. She seemed as though she would burst into tears at any moment as she spoke. 

“You made poor Metal Sonic go through so much pain and sadness, just for that? All you needed him for was to frame us, and then you’d leave him behind?”

“Metal Sonic cannot feel pain and sadness, you empathetic buffoon,” Eggman replied. “He was but a tool in my grand scheme, nothing more.”

The rabbit was practically yelling now. “He was so much more than you could ever understand! He hated you! All your robots do! You treat them like your slaves and your pawns and give them nothing in return. Look at what you did to Mister Omega! He hates you even more than he did before, because now he has no choice but to obey you.”

“Of course they’re my pawns,” Eggman retorted. “I created them as soulless robots, therefore I own them. They can only do as they're programmed. It’s as simple as that.”

“Maybe you see them as simple machines, Eggman,” Espio said. “They all have minds of their own. They may not be capable of critical thought on the same level as we are, but that’s because you only give them free will to a certain extent. Thinking about their position and status is something they do not even have the capability to do.”

“And you took that away from them!” Charmy added. "They could have been just like the rest of us if you let 'em!" 

“Free will is relative,” Eggman countered. “My creations have no free will in the first place, the same as any electronic appliance. Where is the line drawn between sentience and no sentience? Do the headphones Vector wears have the same level of self-awareness as a robot like Omega? It's a dilemma that all scientists of my caliber ponder. The point of the matter is, none of my robots can think for themselves, much like the aforementioned headphones. They can only do what they're programmed to do. In the case of your headphones, Vector, they're programmed to play music when you tell them to. In the case of my robots, they're programmed to do what I tell them to. Where is the line drawn between machine and animal? Is there a line at all? In the end, is our free will not just an illusion? All my robots exist to serve me, nothing more. And soon, you will too."

"They all exist to serve you, eh?" Vector retorted. “Why don’t ya tell that to Orbot and Cubot?” 

“Bad example, Vector,” Eggman said. “Those two imbeciles wouldn’t be able to think for themselves even with the most advanced AI in them.”

Cream’s eyes were fixed on the ground and tears streamed from her cheeks. 

“Metal Sonic chose to self-destruct to protect us,” she told Eggman. “He didn’t want you to make him harm anyone anymore, and he couldn’t take it. He died because you gave him no other choice but to!”

Eggman was taken aback by this news. “What? Metal Sonic should not be able to make those kinds of decisions on his own! How is that possible? Unless… when you awakened him, he copied more than just your data…”

Vector advanced on Eggman, pushing through to the front of the group. 

“That’s right, doc,” he said. “Metal Sonic copied Cream’s most powerful ability of all: her ability to empathize. Metal Sonic felt remorse because of her. That’s why your plan is failin’ as we speak. Your own apathy for the well-bein’ of your creations is gonna be the end of ya.”

“Silence!” Eggman commanded. “Metal Sonic’s defeat may have been a temporary setback, but you have no chance of victory against the power of six emeralds. Before this day is up, the whole world will tremble before the terrifying might of Dr. Eggman!”

The Egg Iconoclast took a step forward and drew it’s blade. Gripping the sword in the right hand, the robot hefted the blaster in the palm of it’s left. A bright white glow burst out as it spread it’s hand open, and it spun the sword around in it’s right hand like a helicopter blade and approached the Chaotix. They took a step back as the sword whirred in front of its face. In one swift movement, Eggman caught the blade hard and spun. Dust was kicked up as the tip of the sword cut the ground in front of the Chaotix. They assumed their battle positions as Eggman reared back with his sword behind him and his blaster palm outstretched. 

“Now then, Chaotix defectives,” Dr. Eggman announced. “Let's finish this.”


	17. Rebel Nature

Once again, Eggman attacked first. He fired off four shots from his palm, one aimed at each of them. Espio, Cream, and Charmy were able to dodge with ease. Vector was not as agile, and took a direct hit. He staggered backwards as the excruciating energy coursed through his body and he collapsed to the ground, stunned. Espio raced forward and slid between the Egg Iconoclast’s legs. He slammed a dagger into its groin as he passed through. It had less effect than Espio had anticipated. He bounced into the air and hurled two ninja stars at his foe, both of which were batted away with ease. The Egg Iconoclast raised it’s left hand to fire upon Espio’s exposed form, but it's blast was sent astray due to Charmy knocking the hand off course. Enraged, Eggman swung his blade at the bee. Nimble and small, Charmy easily evaded all the swings thrown at him with his hands behind his back. 

“Come on, Cheese!” Cream yelled, finally entering the fray. With a simple point of her finger, Cheese closed in and dealt massive damage. The Iconoclast reeled, it’s blade flung into the air. It landed near Vector’s stunned form, stuck perfectly into the ground. 

Eggman unleashed a battle cry as he bent his knees and fired a round of homing missiles from his back. Two missiles each shot after Espio, Cream, and Charmy. 

"That looks like a homing shot!" Charmy pointed out. 

Seeing this, Espio charged towards the Egg Iconoclast and jumped right at it, followed by the missiles. At the last moment, he swung out of the way, and the missiles collided with the robot’s chest. The impact knocked it to the ground with an explosion.

On the other hand, Cream and Charmy were not faring quite as well. Cream attempted to jump out of the way at the last moment, but her timing was off. The missiles exploded on the ground near her, sending her sprawling. Charmy flew as fast as his wings would carry him, but the missiles kept on him like glue. He began to panic, flying erratically in an attempt to shake them off. Espio had to bail him out by throwing two ninja stars at them, detonating them in midair. 

With Vector and Cream out of commission, Espio and Charmy regrouped for a joint attack. Espio revved up a spindash towards Charmy and dashed forward. Charmy kicked Espio like a soccer ball at just the right moment and knocked the Egg Iconoclast over like a bowling pin. Eggman quickly brought it back to its feet. It was Charmy’s turn to charge now. Faster than Eggman could keep up, he buzzed around the Egg Iconoclast and peppered it with stings and kicks. Finally, Espio leapt back up and linked hands with Charmy, who shot Espio forward into the torso of the Egg Iconoclast. As he collided, Espio reached out blindly in an attempt to snatch one of the Chaos Emeralds, but missed. The Egg Iconoclast toppled back over. 

At this point, Vector and Cream were back in action. They regrouped with their allies. Vector jumped into the air and brought his fists down on the Egg Iconoclast’s chest with a resounding gong. This barely seemed to faze Eggman, as the mech lashed out with a sweeping kick and knocked Vector off his feet.

Standing back up, energy started to dance around the Egg Iconoclast’s hand. As if pitching a baseball, it hurled energy bolt after energy bolt from it’s free hand at all four Chaotix. Three bolts bound for Charmy, Espio, and Cream met their marks.

Vector, however, managed to deflect the bolt. He had picked up the double-bladed sword from nearby and used it to bat away the shots. He spun the blade above his head like a helicopter and then held it behind him as he charged straight at the Egg Iconoclast. He swung the sword sideways, but the Egg Iconoclast’s reinforced armor forearm blocked the blow. With the momentum from the deflection of the bottom half of the sword, Vector swung the top with destructive force behind it. The Egg Iconoclast hopped over the sweep. Vector spun and brought the sword straight down onto Eggman, who grabbed it with his blaster-hand and fired. The blast repelled the sword, but Vector hung onto it and swung it back around. He yelled and brought it forward again, but this time the mech caught it by the handle and snapped it in two. Stunned, Vector was left with only the bottom half of the once double-bladed sword. Eggman lashed out with a vicious kick while Vector was off guard, sending him shooting backwards. The newly created broadsword flung into the air, only to be caught by Espio, who landed back before the Egg Iconoclast brandishing it’s own sword. 

The sword was almost twice the size of Espio’s entire body, but that did not stop him from swinging it nimbly. Putting his years of ninja training to the test, Espio dueled Eggman in the Egg Iconoclast directly. Their swords clashed over and over, Espio using his mobility to gain the upper hand with the Egg Iconoclast using its sheer power to put him back at a disadvantage. 

After a few blows, Espio was repelled slid to a stop in front of his opponent. He looked up and saw Eggman pointing the Egg Iconoclast’s blaster directly at him. 

_ Bringing a gun to a sword fight,_ Espio thought. _ I’m not sure why I expected him to play fairly. _

The ninja flipped out of the path of two blasts, and deftly batted away a third with his sword. He wasn’t sure how long he could hold out on his own. 

Luckily, his three other allies managed to get back on their feet. All four of them charged together. 

Charmy attacked first. He procured the same paddle he used during Operation Cannonball and whacked the Egg Iconoclast over the head. While Eggman was momentarily dazed, Cream shot Cheese forward. He collided with Eggman’s visor, leaving a large crack. It was Espio’s turn now. He pushed off the ground and hopped behind the Egg Iconoclast, then swung the sword like a baseball bat. It met its mark perfectly, putting the Egg Iconoclast’s rocket launcher out of commission. While Eggman was distracted by the three way onslaught, Vector laid one final punch into him, knocking him to the ground. 

Eggman was not done yet. He activated his jet booster and took to the skies, rocketing back towards the battle with Sonic and the others. Espio immediately made after him on foot, followed by Cream, and finally Charmy, who was lugging Vector in tow. 

The Egg Iconoclast spun and spiralled in midair, firing beams of Chaos Energy from his palm at its persistent pursuers. The shots were inaccurate and easy to dodge. They hit the ground and left craters in the dirt around them as they continued their pursuit. Finally, they reached the site of the original battle. 

“Watch out!” Knuckles cried. He and a few others had to dive out of the way as the Egg Iconoclast tore through the ranks of the remaining robots. Knuckles watched as the four Chaotix seemed to pass by in slow motion. Espio was in the lead, holding a large sword behind him with his other hand in front of his focused eyes. Behind him was Cream, using the speed generated by both her and Cheese to fly faster. Finally, Charmy tossed Vector ahead of him, who shot the echidna a quick wink as he passed by. In the rear was Charmy, zooming past with speed of a really tiny bullet train. 

Once they had passed the battle, Cream reached out and grabbed Espio’s hand. 

“Chaos control!” she shouted. In the blink of an eye, Espio was no longer trailing. He appeared right in front of the Egg Iconoclast in midair and brought his sword down with a powerful swing. The Egg Iconoclast reacted instantly and raised own it’s sword to deflect Espio’s blow. The robot was forced back into its feet from the sheer force behind Espio's swing. This gave Cream the opening to she needed to shoot Cheese forward. The Chao bore a hole straight through the Egg Iconoclast, barely missing Eggman’s body. The damaged mech fell to one knee, still defending against Espio’s blow. If it had been facing the other way, it may have been prepared to take a powerful kick from Vector. But it wasn't. The Egg Iconoclast fell forward onto its face, shattering the visor. Eggman tumbled out. At last, Charmy closed in. Eggman scrambled to his feet, his eyes wide with horror at the all too familiar sight of Charmy's stinger heading right for him. 

“Not again!” he cried as Charmy laid sting after sting into him. Eggman flailed his arms in a fruitless attempt to swat the bee. After many stings and winces from the onlooking Chaotix, Eggman keeled over. He was finally defeated. 

All four Chaotix stood over him, looking down at his dazed, unmoving form. Charmy stung him one more time to make sure he was alive. 

Eggman painfully opened his eyes for a moment and saw the imposing forms of four Chaotix towering over him with fire in their eyes. 

“How… could I lose?” he asked, his voice shaking. 

Vector smiled and squatted down so Eggman could see him more clearly. “Rule number one of villainy: never underestimate the power of the Chaotix.”

Eggman looked like he wanted to say something, but he passed out before he had the chance to. 

Espio huffed a sigh of relief and tossed the oversized sword aside. “Guess that’s that.”

Charmy reached his arms above his head and stretched. “That was one heck of a battle! Anyone hungry?”

“Ooh, I’m starving!” Cream replied. “Let’s go see Mister Big!”

“Actually, I kind of wanted to try something new,” Espio told them. "I'm getting tired of the same old thing."

Cream and Charmy looked at him like he had two heads. 

“Ain't we forgettin' something?” Vector asked to nobody in particular. As if to answer his question, a bolt of energy whizzed by his head. He jumped, startled by the sizzling blast that nearly killed him. 

“Right,” Espio said, remembering the battle still taking place behind them. “Let’s wrap this up."


	18. The Power of Seven

Rouge and Tails were down. Sonic, Amy and Blaze were fighting on their last legs. Only Shadow and Knuckles remained at their full strength, but their power was kept om check by Omega.

“Snap out of it, Omega!” commanded Shadow, landing a kick on Omega’s face. The robot responded by emotionlessly grabbing Shadow’s leg and whipping him. Knuckles tried to throw a punch, but Omega stepped out of the way on time and landed a devastating counter on him instead. Knuckles was sent sprawling. The battle seemed lost. 

That is, until the Chaotix showed up. 

“Time to make our grand entrance,” Vector told his cohorts. “Who wants to do the honors?”

Vector looked at Cream, but she spoke up before he could volunteer her. 

“I think you three should do it,” she told them. “It’s your case, so it’s fitting that you close it.”

“She has a point,” Espio said. 

“Plus, we’d look super cool in front of Shadow!” Charmy added.

Vector nodded. “Let’s do it.”

“Time to rock and roll!” exclaimed Charmy. 

The three Chaotix approached Omega confidently. Everyone participating in the battle stopped what they were doing to look. As they walked, a smirk crept onto Vector’s face. Then, they were surrounded by all seven Chaos Emeralds. The Chaos energy flowed from all the Emeralds into them, powering them up beyond all reckoning. They did not have super forms, so they had to settle for the next best thing. All three of them put their hands together, and they glowed with the brilliance of the sun. The assembled cast had to shield their eyes from the blinding light. From their outstretched hands shot a bright beam of pure Chaos energy with the power of all seven Chaos Emeralds together. The beam hit Omega and flowed right through him like a pillar of light. He did not topple or fade, but the energy seemed to be rejuvenating him. At first, Omega twitched and tried to break free of the energy. Like a window shattering, the virus broke apart and split off of the robot in tiny intangible chunks. Omega's eyes flashed between the sickly green and his normal red. Once the virus was eliminated, Omega no longer moved. It ended as quickly as it began. 

When the glow subsided, the Chaotix still stood with their hands outstretched. The seven Chaos Emeralds clattered to the ground, wisps of energy still escaping them. Omega stood for a moment as the color of his eyes faded back to red, then he collapsed onto the ground. He was cured of Eggman's virus. As a result, his power had become overloaded and he had no choice but to shut down. 

The battle was won. 

****

A calm air settled over the base. Vector, Espio, and Charmy turned around to face their allies, all of whom looked completely blown away. 

Vector grinned. “Awright, this is the part where you shower us with praise! Bring it on!”

Sonic and Amy exchanged a glance before bursting into laughter. 

“Okay Vector,” Sonic said through his laughter. “You didn’t do half bad, dude.”

“Even I have to admit you guys really nailed it out there,” Amy added with a gentle smile. 

Knuckles approached Espio and put his arm around his shoulder. 

“Whoa, what’s the deal, man?” Espio asked, alarmed. Once he saw Knuckles was smiling, he lowered his guard. 

“Not bad,” he told Espio with a wink. “For a Chaotix.”

Behind them, Blaze was helping Rouge to her feet. 

“I don’t believe we’ve formally met,” Blaze told her, still grasping her hand. “I’m Blaze the Cat.”

Rouge was bewildered, but didn’t seem to mind having her hand held all that much. “Rouge the Bat, world-class treasure hunter. You must be the one I freed from Eggman’s base a few days ago. Pleasure to finally meet you.”

Blaze cracked a rare, genuine smile. “The pleasure’s all mine. Actually, I was hoping I'd come face to face with my savior after all this was over. I sincerely appreciate what you did for me. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Since we’re… friends… now, what say you and I get some tea together sometime? I’d love to get to know you a little better. Er, as one of Sonic’s friends, of course.”

“Y-yeah,” Rouge replied. “Of course, as Sonic's friends, haha. I’d like that.”

They gazed into each others’ eyes for some time, blinking slowly and smiling. Knuckles did not seem particularly happy at this new development. 

Shadow rushed past them to Omega’s side. He got down on one knee and examined his friend, tilting his head slightly as he examined him. He laid a hand on Omega’s chest and turned his seething gaze to the Vector. 

“What did you do you him?” he growled. 

“Relax, Shadow,” Tails piped in, having finally gotten up. “I saw most of what happened. Omega’s circuits are just overloaded from the shock of having the virus removed. He’ll be fine once he wakes up. The Chaos Energy seemed to purge Eggman’s virus from his system, but didn’t do any physical harm."

Shadow huffed a sigh of relief and continued to examine his friend. 

"Thank you guys," the black hedgehog reluctantly grunted without making eye contact. "I owe you one."

It was then that Amy’s eyes met Cream’s. She had almost forgotten about her best friend. Cream was standing off to the side, unharmed but not in the spotlight. Amy decided to change that. 

“Cream!” she shouted, rushing to her friend’s side and pulling her into a tight hug. “Oh my gosh, you were amazing! I’m so proud of you!”

“Hehe, hi Amy,” Cream replied sheepishly. 

“If it weren’t for her, you’d all still be locked in that tower,” Espio informed her. “We would have met a grisly end at the hands of Metal Sonic, too. She’s the real hero of this story.”

Cream blushed a bright red and smiled sheepishly. 

“And you shoulda seen her using Chaos Control!” Charmy added. “It was crazy! Cream’s awesome!”

Amy smiled at Cream once again and put her arms on her shoulders. 

Cream looked at the ground sheepishly, and then looked beyond Amy at her Chaotix friends. 

"I'm so glad," she said with a glance at Omega. 

Vector was confused. "That we defeated him?" 

Cream shook her head. "That we saved him."

Vector thought back to the look on Cream's face when Metal Sonic self-destructed. When he remembered that pain and sadness, he was glad too. 

Sonic approached Amy from behind and put his hands on his hips, watching the heartwarming scene unfold in front of them. Realizing that the only way that this situation could get better would be if Sonic was with them, Amy turned around and gingerly pulled Sonic into a tight hug too. An ecstatic grin spread across her face as she nuzzled her face into his neck. 

“Wha- Amy!” he yelped. “We’re in pub-”

Amy silenced him with a kiss on the mouth. Sonic did not protest. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself. Perhaps he was finally starting to grow less embarrassed about their relationship. Amy felt her heart well up inside at the thought of this new development. Their future together held endless possibilities, but they both knew that no matter which path they went down, they would be happy together. To them, everything seemed right in the world. 

Suddenly, Sonic pulled away from Amy, who was blushing beat red. He was still holding her in his arms as he glanced at Vector. 

“By the way, Vex,” he said. “What happened to ol’ Eggy?”

“Oh yeah, almost forgot about him,” Vector replied. “He’s right over-”

Vector turned to look at where they had left Eggman. He tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows at what he saw. The only thing left was the ruined remains of the Egg Iconoclast and the broken glass of the visor strewn on the ground. Smoke billowed out of it and into the early morning sky, but Eggman himself was nowhere to be seen. 

“Crap,” Vector muttered. “He musta made a run for it while we weren’t lookin’.”

“Should we go after him?” Charmy asked. 

Sonic shook his head, finally releasing Amy and stepping forward. “Nah, let him run. There’s nowhere he can go that I won’t find him. Besides, this has to be his worst loss yet. I don’t think he’ll be showing his ugly mug for a while.”

“Guess that settles things then,” Vector replied enthusiastically. 

Espio tugged at his cuff. Something was missing. 

“Vector,” he said, “aren’t we forgetting something important?”

In response, he discreetly elbowed Espio. 

“That ain’t somethin’ for everyone else’s ears,” Vector murmured to his teammate, loud enough that Charmy could hear as well. “If the mastermind is who I think she is, it’s best that we confront her alone. Its better that the others don't know yet.”

“Why’s that, boss?” Charmy inquired, his voice remaining surprisingly soft. 

“You’ll see when we get there,” he replied cryptically. 

“What are you guys whispering about over there?” Rouge butted in to inquire. She was holding Blaze’s hand, who was still standing right next to her. 

“Ah, nothing,” Vector quickly replied, scratching the back of his head. Rouge shot him a quizzical look but did not press the issue further. She decided to go give Knuckles a hard time instead. 

“That was fast,” Vector muttered, gesturing at Rouge and Blaze. Espio and Charmy both nodded in agreement again. 

Vector addressed the crowd. “Well guys, it’s been a pleasure as always. But we should be headin’ out. We uh, have some unfinished business to take care of.”

Tails narrowed his eyes. “Unfinished business? Like what?”

Caught off guard, Vector froze up. Espio spoke up instead. 

“Another case,” he lied. Vector and Charmy both nodded in confirmation. 

“Another case?” Cream asked. “You never told me about that!”

“Er, well, you see,” Vector stammered. 

“With everything going on, we simply forgot to mention it,” Espio lied again. “It’s not as important as this case was, but still something we need to do.”

Vector leaned in close to Espio and whispered. “When did ya get so good at lyin’, Espio?”

Espio did not respond verbally, instead simply breaking into a smirk. 

“This case?” asked Sonic. “The one about helping Big find Froggy?”

“Er, no, I mean yes,” Vector stammered once again, realizing that they'd given almost everyone there a different story. He nudged Espio for help. Espio rolled his eyes. 

“Unfortunately it’s classified intel,” Espio announced. “Detective-client confidentiality. I’m sure you all understand.”

Vector nodded and pointed at Espio as if to say ‘what he said’.

For a moment, it seemed as though Tails was about to question him, but instead he just shrugged. 

“If you say so,” he said. “I think I’ll head back to the lab and fix Omega up for you, Shadow.”

“And I will join you,” Shadow replied.

“Great!” Tails exclaimed. “In that case, can you grab what’s left of that Egg Iconoclast? I want to study it and see if I can learn how Eggman managed to harness the Chaos energy so well. I've been trying to do that for so long.”

Shadow hoisted the remains of the Egg Iconoclast onto one shoulder and Omega onto the other. The dangling parts falling off of the Egg Iconoclast clinked and clanked with every one of his movements. 

“What about you guys?” Tails asked Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles. “It’s been forever since you came to visit.”

“Now we’re talking,” Sonic cheered. “Party at Tails’ place!”

"Sounds good to me!" Amy added with a grin. 

"You guys are welcome to come too, if your secret case can wait a bit," Tails told the Chaotix. 

Vector shook his head. "Nah, 'fraid its urgent. Thanks for the offer though."

"But I wanna go to the party!" Charmy whined. Vector simply put his hand over the bee's mouth to drown out his protests. 

“I think I’ll pass as well,” Knuckles chimed in. “I should be getting back to the Master Emerald shrine soon. No need to live with Sonic and Amy now that Metal Sonic’s gone.”

Amy nuzzled up against Sonic and giggled. “With Knuckles gone, we’ll have some ACTUAL alone time. That means we can finally-”

“Whoa, Ames, there are children here,” Sonic interrupted, gesturing to Charmy and Cream. “Not another word out of you.”

“It’s okay, Sonic!” Charmy yelped. “I know exactly what she was gonna say.”

“Do you, now?” Amy replied, narrowing her fiery eyes at Vector. There was no way she would forgive Vector if he had tarnished Charmy’s innocence so early on in life.

“Yeah!” Charmy replied. “You guys can finally watch TV in peace without Knuckles yelling at you in the background!”

Vector sighed in relief. He was off the hook. For now. 

“Anyway,” Tails continued. “How about you, Blaze? And Rouge?”

They smiled at each other and then looked back at Tails. The whole time they had been having an inaudible conversation of their own, out of earshot of the others. 

“Thanks for the offer, Tails,” Blaze said curtly. 

“We’ve actually got plans of our own after this,” Rouge added. 

Knuckles shook his head, and Rouge had to suppress a giggle. He began to walk away. 

“Well, I should be off,” he announced, dismissedly waving his hand. “The Master Emerald isn’t going to guard itself.”

“We should get goin' too,” Vector also announced. 

“Alright, let's go!” Cream presumptuously responded. “Bye, Amy! Bye, Mister Sonic! And Mister Tails, too!”

Vector looked away awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. Espio grimaced. Charmy seemed worried too. 

“Huh?” Cream asked, the smile fading off her face. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, the thing is,” Vector began, “I think it’s better if ya sit this one out.”

Cream’s happiness faded into dismay. She seemed to be at a loss for words. Finally, her thoughts reached her lips. 

“But… why?” she asked. “I thought… I thought I was a member of the team now.”

Vector felt as though he was getting stabbed through the heart. “Ya are, Cream. But this is something very personal for me, Espio, an’ Charmy. It’s better if we go alone. Why don’t ya go back to Tails’ place with Sonic an’ Amy? We’ll catch up to ya.”

Cream’s shoulders sank. She looked at the ground, dejected. 

“Okay,” she conceded. “I’ll see you guys after, then.”

Amy glared at Vector as she gently put her hand on Cream’s back and led her out. Sonic gingerly took Amy's hand and left alongside her, followed by Tails and Shadow. In one arm he carried Omega, and in the other he held the Egg Iconoclast. Rouge and Blaze left together too, leaving the three Chaotix alone in the desolate ruins of Eggman’s base. Finally, it qas quiet once more. 

“That was kind of harsh,” Espio observed as they watched the shapes of their friends shrink into the horizon. 

“You're tellin’ me,” Vector replied, not taking his eyes off of Cream. “I’ll have to apologize to her later. She seemed pretty hurt.”

“Why can’t she come along, anyway?” Charmy inquired. “All we’re doing is nabbing the mastermind, right?”

Vector looked at the ground, a look of conflict spreading across his face. 

“Trust me,” he replied. “It’s better if she doesn’t see this.”


	19. Maternal Desperation

Evening had descended on the city. By now, the party at Tails’ pad was surely in full swing. Espio found himself wondering if Rouge and Blaze ended up going. In fact, he felt a twinge of jealousy that he was unable to go himself. Contrary to what people assumed about him, he was a very social person who enjoyed being around his friends. Work always came first, though, and he was disciplined enough to know that. He silently hoped that the case would be closed before the party was over so that they could stop by. Seeing Amy argue with Vector always amused him, and he found her relationship with Sonic to be heartwarming, to say the least. He made a mental note to hang out with those two more often. 

Vector led the way through the city, and so far it seemed like they were just heading back to the agency. 

“So, are you going to tell us who the mastermind is?” Espio inquired. “Or are you going to leave us hanging until the last moment like you always do?"

Vector did not respond, only kept marching forward with a purpose. Espio could not see his face. 

“Come on, Vector!” Charmy whined. “You always do this! You never tell us about your weird deductions until the last minute! First there was that time with Metal Sonic pretending to be Eggman, and then the time with the Eclipse Canon, and also that big CEO fella, oh and that time with the creepy carnivorous plants throwing coconuts at people from inside bushes that we blamed Silver for at first, and that other time…”

Charmy trailed off. It was odd to see Vector so quiet. He did not even make any attempt to shut the bee up, just kept walking. Espio and Charmy exchanged a glance and shrugged. Something was clearly on his mind, but they both knew there was no point in asking. They would see soon enough. 

“Man, I wish we coulda gone to that party,” Charmy told Espio. “I wanna hang out with Shadow some more! He’s so cool.”

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind a party after all this,” Espio agreed. “A nice shower and a nap would be ideal too.”

Charmy was in shock. “Am I hearing things? Espio the Chameleon actually WANTS to go to a party? What kind of mind control ray did Eggman use on you?”

“I’ve always enjoyed parties,” Espio retorted. “I’m usually just too busy to go to the big ones. Either that, or I’m tired. Ninja training takes a lot out of you, what with all the... meditation... and... other things like that."

“Maybe you’re not as much of a party pooper as I thought, Espio!” 

Espio allowed himself to crack a grin. 

Vector suddenly spoke up. “We’re almost there, boys.”

“Almost where?” Charmy asked. 

“The agency,” replied Vector. 

Espio was confused. “I thought we were going to apprehend the mastermind.”

There was a momentary tense silence. Then Vector spoke up. “We are.”

****

The three detectives arrived back at the agency. It looked the same as ever, with their brand new nameplate hanging over the entrance. It’s lack of change almost made the three detectives forget about the ordeal they had gone through in the past few days. Now that they had returned to the agency, everything was back to normal. 

Or so it seemed. 

Vector approached the door but hesitated outside of it. It seemed like he wanted nothing more than to not step through, as if he dreaded beyond dread what he would find inside. This was putting Espio and Charmy on edge. Their hearts felt like they had jumped into their throats. The lighthearted mood from moments ago was gone, replaced by a tense atmosphere. 

Finally, Vector spoke up. He spoke to his two comrades flanking him. “Ready?”

They both nodded. 

Vector took a deep breath and pushed the door open, stepping into the main lobby. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first glance. The air was thick and dusty, and the sounds of the city outside were muffled. This time, the quiet felt more haunting than the soothing that it normally did. Most of the lights were off in the lobby, save for the one right above the desk. Nobody was there except for Vanilla in her usual spot at the reception desk. 

_ Wait, _ Espio thought. _ No way… _

“Welcome back, guys!” Vanilla greeted with a bubbly grin. “You’ve sure been out of the office for a while.”

Vector did not say anything in response. He stood near the entrance, gazing across the lobby at her. His expression was blank. It was hard to know for sure what was going through his head at that moment, but Espio felt he could hazard a guess. 

Vanilla tilted her head quizzically. She had noticed that none of them were talking, just looking at her with a mixture of confusion and horror. 

“Are you guys okay?” she asked. 

“Eggman’s been defeated,” Vector immediately said, leaving her question unanswered. 

“Oh,” Vanilla tersely replied. “That’s... great news. By the way, is Cream with you guys?”

Espio shook his head. “She’s with Sonic and Amy, at Tails’ place.”

“I see,” replied Vanilla, rising from her seat and making for the exit. “In that case, I should really be off. Cream will no doubt want to go home, and-”

Vector held out a hand to stop her from leaving as she approached. Vanilla seemed taken aback. 

“Vector?” she hesitantly asked. 

Vector was thoroughly downtrodden. He seemed to be steeling himself for what he was about to say next. He took one deep breath, then another. Then he spoke, his voice hollow and broken. 

“Why’d you do it?”

By this point, Espio and Charmy were starting to come to their own conclusions about the scenario. It didn’t take a professional detective to figure out what Vector was talking about. Their expressions quickly changed from one of confusion to one of shock and horror. 

“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean,” Vanilla replied quickly. The panic in her voice was very clearly evident. 

Vector shook his head. “You know full well what I mean. All evidence has been pointing directly at you for a while now, ever since the other day when you were eavesdroppin' on us."

“It’s you, isn’t it?” Charmy breathed. “You’re Eggman's mastermind. You’re the one behind everything. That's how Eggman knew where we'd be. How he always seemed to know our next move. It... all makes sense.”

“I-” Vanilla began. The words seemed to get caught in her throat and her mouth hung slightly open. A bead of sweat dripped down her forehead. She inconspicuously glanced around the room. She seemed frozen in place, like a deer in headlights. 

That moment seemed to last an eternity. 

“Vanilla-” Vector began. He did not have time to finish his sentence, as Vanilla ducked under his outstretched arm and made a break for the door. 

“Wha- Hey!” he yelped, whirling around as Vanilla vacated the premises. “Crap! Let’s move, boys!”

As usual, Espio burst out of the door first. Even through the crowd, he was able to spot Vanilla instantly. She had not made it very far. Despite Vanilla running at full speed, Espio was faster. He quickly closed the gap between them. Vanilla turned into an alleyway in an attempt to shake them, but all that awaited her at the end was a blank wall. Her eyes went wide. She tried to turn around and get back on the street, but Espio was blocking the entrance. Vector and Charmy soon joined him. There was nowhere for her to run. Despite this, she frantically continued glancing around for a viable escape route. 

“Give it up, Vanilla,” Vector told her. His voice was unnaturally flat and emotionless. This was a telltale sign that he was trying to act as tough as he could, despite the fact that he was anguished on the inside. 

Vanilla’s breathing was rapid, and she panted as her gaze shifted between Espio, Vector, and Charmy. 

Vector took a few steps forward to approach her. Her next movement was a blur. She reached beneath her dress and drew a handgun. Its muzzle was trained directly on Vector as she held it in front of her with both hands like a lifeline. The desperation in her eyes was obvious. Vector halted in his path and slowly put his hands up. Vanilla’s hands shook and her eyes were wide with fear. Espio assumed an attack position, but Vector subtly shook his head. Bewildered, Espio backed off. His senses remained on high alert, ready to reflexively pounce if Vanilla’s finger even twitched. 

“Do you even know how to use that thing?” Vector asked. Vanilla said nothing. Tears began to stream out of her eyes and she clenched her teeth together. The pace of her breathing quickened. 

“We’re about to find out if you don’t get out of here,” Vanilla feebly replied. 

“Why, Vanilla?” Vector asked. “Why did you help Eggman? You knew he was after us, and you helped him anyway.”

She again said nothing. For a few long moments, nobody said anything. It had been a long day for all of them, and the sky was beginning to dim. It was almost night time again. Vector hadn’t slept in days, and wanted nothing more than to get this over with. But he knew what had to be done. 

After what seemed like an eternity, Vanilla spoke up. Her voice was barely above a whisper. 

“I needed the money,” she uttered. 

Of course it was about the money. In the end, it always was. People were naturally greedy. Vector, however, knew that Vanilla was not like that. He knew better. 

“Why didn’t you come to us?” Vector asked gently. “If it was money you needed, we woulda gladly helped you out.”

“I did!” Vanilla retorted, her voice now raised as tears streamed down her face. “But you guys barely make enough money to support yourselves, let alone pay someone else. What was I to do?”

Her grip tightened on the gun as more tears began to streak down her face. She looked down. 

“You don’t understand how hard it is being a single mother in this city,” she sobbed. “Bills are through the roof, and I’m making pennies. How am I supposed to support Cream like that? I have no special skills and nothing going for me. Finding a steady job has become more and more of an uphill battle for me."

She paused to sniffle and catch her breath, then continued. 

"You guys have done so much more to raise my daughter than I ever have. While I was out doing lord knows what just to put food on the table, you three were showing her the ropes of the world in earnest. I knew… if I wanted to be a real mother to her, a good parent, I’d need to be able to support her better AND be there for her like you were. That’s when I approached Eggman. I guess he saw something in me, because when I laid my plan out to him he took me in right then and there. He even paid me up front. Eggman… he said he’d leave us alone once the plan was complete, and that we’d live out our days in peace. I could finally face Cream like mother she deserves. That day, I went out and bought her a nice treat. It was the first time in such a long time that I felt I did something great for her.”

“Did you not think that Eggman would target Cream too?” Vector asked, more confidently than before. 

“I specifically told him not to,” she replied coldly. 

“Well, he did,” Vector replied. Vanilla went pale and looked back up. 

“He.. did?” she asked. “Is she okay?”

“Of course he did,” Vector told her. “This is Eggman we’re talkin’ about. He’ll do anything to achieve his own ends.”

“Is Cream okay!?” Vanilla asked again, this time more desperately. She gripped the gun tighter and re-aimed, her emotions building once more. 

“She’s okay,” Vector informed her, “no thanks to you, anyway. We were the ones riskin' our hides out there tryin' to save her from the menace that you spawned. And not only that… I thought we were friends, Vanilla. Maybe even more than friends. What about that? Me, and Espio and Charmy too. You were really okay with leavin’ us out to dry like that? That’s what hurts me the most here.”

“I…” Vanilla began. “I messed up, I know. I’m really sorry to have hurt you, Vector. There wasn’t any other way, though. I just wanted to be a good role model for Cream, and to have enough money to raise her the right way. She’s such a good girl and an absolute sweetheart, and she deserves a good mother too.”

“You think that bein’ a villain and workin’ with Eggman makes you a good role model?” Vector pressed. “You knew full well what Eggman was plannin' to do. That's the opposite of a good role model.”

“How do you think Cream would feel if she found out?” Espio asked, taking a step forward. “Do you think she’d just forgive you so easily? Especially after everything Eggman did and would have done to her friends and everyone else in this city.”

Vanilla looked away with a grimace. “You’re right. I was selfish. Cream’s life involves so many more people than just me. She has so many friends who mean the world to her, and I put them in harm’s way. Cream would never forgive me.”

There was a moment of silence, only permeated by the ambient noise of the city around them. 

Little did they know, they had been followed by the last person they had hoped to see. 

That familiar, high-pitched voice rang out from behind, taking everyone by surprise. 

“Actually, I would.”

Vanilla’s eyes went wide. Cream stepped out into the alleyway and stood between Vector and Charmy, both of whom seemed as startled to see her as Vanilla did. 

“Cream?” Vector yelped. “How long have you-”

He stopped talking mid-sentence. The look Cream was giving to her mom was not what he expected to see. Vector expected her to be angry, hurt, confused, sad, or a combination of the above. Etched onto Cream’s face was none of the above, however. 

It was warmth. 

Cream seemed to radiate that warmth as she stepped forward towards her mother, who still had a gun trained on Vector’s head. 

“Mom…” she began, her voice trailing off. 

“C-cream?” Vanilla replied. “Honey, I… how much did you hear?”

“You did all that for me, mom?” she asked, taking another step forward. 

Vanilla nodded slowly and a pained look crept across her face. “Yes. I know I made a terrible mistake, and I put all your friends in danger too. I was selfish and couldn’t think of a better way. I am so, so sorry Cream. I have no right to call myself your mother."

Cream took another step forward, and another one. Finally, she reached out and pulled her mother into a warm embrace. Vanilla was confused, and seemed to be frozen in place. After a moment of stunned silence, she slowly put her hands back on her daughter. Cream spoke to her, her voice barely a murmur. Somehow, everyone managed to hear it. 

“I love you too, mom.”

Vanilla dropped the gun onto the pavement with a clack as her tears flowed freely. She sobbed and sobbed, happy beyond happy that she had the most loving daughter in the world. 

Espio dove forward and kicked the gun away from Vanilla, just to be safe. 

“You should have just told me about all those problems, mom,” Cream continued. “You are the best mother I could ever ask for, money or not.”

Vanilla kept crying and crying. It seemed to never end. Finally, the two of them pulled apart and looked each other in the eyes. They shared a smile that only a mother and her daughter could ever understand, and that warmed Vector’s heart. But that didn’t change what she had done. He moved to formally apprehend Vanilla. This time, she did not resist as he led her to the police station. The whole way there, he had to hide his face so nobody would see the tears streaming from his eyes. 


	20. Epilogue: Two Months Later...

“You’re going down, Charmy!” 

“I’d like to see you try, Cream!”

Fingers smashed against buttons as Cream and Charmy faced off in a new fighting videogame that they had bought. Cheese sat between them and watched, once again chomping on a veggie stick.

After the case with Vanilla, the Chaotix had made something of a name for themselves around the city. They were the talk of the town. Cases began to roll in like they were hedgehogs. The Chaotix were finally making enough money to support themselves. Vector even bought a new TV for the office, which Charmy and Cream were delighted by. 

Ever since the incident, Cream and Cheese had been living at the agency. The Chaotix had become her full time caretakers with her mother incarcerated. That was the way it would remain until she was released. Cream was overjoyed to learn she'd be living with her Chaotix friends for a full year. With their newfound money, Vector was delighted to finally be able to pay Vanilla what he owed her, even though she wouldn’t be able to use it for a while. 

As Cream and Charmy were facing off, Espio burst through the door once again. 

“Time,” the purple chameleon shouted, grinding to a halt in the middle of the newly cleaned room. 

Charmy paused his game and nonchalantly glanced at the stopwatch he had. “Two minutes and 18 seconds. Another new record!”

“Yer gettin’ better and better at this Espio,” Vector’s jolly voice boomed as he stepped out from the cramped bathroom. He tossed the newspaper he was reading aside. 

Charmy pinched his nose. “Ew, Vector! Spray some air freshener, that stinks!”

“I have to agree with Charmy here,” Espio affirmed, burying his face into the crook of his left arm. 

After Vector had sprayed the room down, all four of them took a seat on the brand new couch around the table. 

“Any new cases, boss? asked Charmy as he gulped down his kids meal. 

“Actually, yeah,” the boss replied. “We’ve got four."

"FOUR?" Charmy repeated in disbelief. "Like, the number after three and before five?"

Vector nodded. 

"That's so many!" Charmy sang, dancing in place. 

"Lemme give you guys a rundown," Vector explained. "First is trackin' down a lost Flicky. Pretty typical stuff. Then we got another fairly typical one: husband thinks his wife is cheatin' on him and wants us to prove it. But here's the crazy part: he thinks she’s cheatin' on him with Big the Cat!”

Charmy burst out laughing. 

“I don’t think Big would ever be into in that sort of thing,” he giggled. 

Cream nodded solemnly. “It's true, Mister Big was never interested in that sort of thing. All he really cares about is food and his friends, especially Froggy.” 

“Speakin' of Froggy,” Vector continued. “The third case is trackin' down Froggy for Big. Again."

“How does he lose track of that guy so often?” Espio wondered aloud. “We get this same exact case practically every other day.”

Vector, Charmy, and Cream all shrugged. Cheese chowed down on another veggie stick. 

“Anyway, one more,” Vector continued. “This one’s a strange one. There was a break in at a local bank, but supposedly nobody even saw the culprit. They just turned their backs for one second and all the money was gone. We’re dealin’ with a real life phantom thief ‘ere. Maybe even a real ghost. We’re gonna need our thinkin' caps for this one. Let's get crackin’ on all these after lunch.”

“You mean after we finish this round,” Charmy corrected, gesturing at the game on the TV. Cream nodded in affirmation. Too exasperated to fight back, Vector gave into Charmy's demands. 

The four ate in silence for a few minutes after. Vector noticed that Cream looked downcast. Over the past two months, she'd recovered a lot from the shock of separation from her mother. She had been to visit her in jail many times, and often got coping advice and company from her friends Amy and Big, but Vector knew that deep down she was grieving. For her to be separated from her mother under such circumstances must have had a monumental effect on her. 

Against his better judgement, he decided to bring it up. 

“Did ya go to visit Vanilla today, Cream?”

Espio and Charmy seemed to tense up at the question. They had always tiptoed around the subject whenever they could, and they suspected Cream preferred it that way. Vector, however, was always too direct for his own good. 

Cream looked away and nodded slightly to answer his question.

“Only 10 more months until she gets out, right?” Vector asked. “In fact, I think it’s 10 months to the day.”

Cream nodded once again and spoke in a monotone voice. “Yeah, she got a pretty light sentence because she didn’t really hurt anyone directly.”

“Mmm, I remember that,” Vector replied, nodding. He was glad that Vanilla’s sentence wasn’t any longer than that. He himself had been to visit her a few times over the past few months, sometimes with Espio and Charmy and sometimes alone. 

Cream still looked somber. She simply stared at her half-eaten sandwich, seemingly lost in thought. Cheese hovered near her face, gazing quizzically at her. 

Vector sighed and decided to speak up. 

“Hey, Cream.”

Cream looked up at him, snapped out of her thoughts. 

“Yes, Mister Vector?”

Vector thought for a moment, unsure what to say. He decided to take a leaf out of Charmy’s book and wing it. 

“Look, there’s no need to call us Mister Vector or Mister Espio anymore,” he said. “We’re practically your family now.”

Espio nodded in affirmation. “It’s like he says, Cream. No matter what happens, you will always have a place among us. I know you must feel lonely without your mother around, but we’re here for you whenever you need us. If you need some guidance or if you need some company to help you feel better, do not hesitate to come to any of us.”

“Just like old times!” Charmy added. “We’ve always hung out together, why is it any different now? You’re so much fun to play with, Cream. In fact, you’re pretty much my best friend.”

Charmy sheepishly smiled. 

“This whole time,” Vector continued, “we’ve been saying you’re a part of the family and telling you you’re one of us. You belong here, no matter what happens, and it’s time I finally proved that to you.”

Vector stood up, and beckoned Cream to stand too. She hesitantly clambored to her feet. 

A gentle midday breeze wafted through the open window. Sunlight streamed in from outside, illuminating every inch of the room. It was a peaceful fall day, just like the ones that always made Vector feel so nostalgic. The leaves on the trees had begun to change color, but the city remained the same as ever. He thought back to everything that had happened to them recently. All the hardships they overcame only made them stronger, and every time something threatened to pull them apart their bond only grew tighter. That’s why, despite not planning it in advance, Vector knew what he had to do in order to make the Chaotix Detective Agency whole and complete. 

“Cream the Rabbit,” he said, placing his large hand on her shoulder. “As of today, you are officially a member of the Chaotix Detective Agency. After everything you’ve done for us and the amazing strength you’ve exhibited, it’s about time we brought you on board as one of us.”

“Yay!” Charmy cheered. “Cream’s officially a Chaotix now! Welcome aboard! Now we can play together the same as usual, except it’s on the clock!”

Espio grinned. “Don’t take this responsibility lightly, Cream. This job comes with just as much danger as it does reward. Fear not, though, for we shall provide you the greatest training you could possibly hope for. You’re in good hands.”

“Do you accept this position?” Vector asked. 

Cream’s mouth gaped open. She was dumbstruck. There were so many emotions swirling within her at that moment. She felt so happy that her talents were being recognized, and that she had an opportunity to prove herself. Not only that, but she got to help people all around town as a member of the greatest detective agency that money could hire. She thought back on the events of the biggest case of their lives. She'd finally have the power to save someone like Metal Sonic, or help someone in the position that her own mother was in. Most importantly, she was happy that she finally had a place where she could belong and exist as herself. That is what made her final answer a no-brainer. 

“I accept!”


End file.
